Between The Margins
by CCougar42709
Summary: A Story set after "Flaming Rebellion" and the events of "A New Hope", Sabine, Ezra, Sophie and the crew of the Ghost embark on multiple adventures while they combat the Galactic Empire.
1. Chapter 1

_Ladies, Gentlemen, children of Mandalore,_

 _Today, I write with the impossible having become possible. Over two years ago, our home planet, the jewel of our civilization, Mandalore stood toe to toe with the Galactic Empire and said that we would not be shackled like the rest of the Empire and desired to be free. We won our sovereignty from the Empire, on a few conditions, one of which is the topic of this letter today._

 _The Alliance To Restore The Republic struck a blow for all free beings of this galaxy in the hopes of creating a new, just and rightful system of government for the entire galaxy, not just the Emperor's chosen few. Many, including myself considered this possibility to be near, if not completely impossible, given the scope of the Empire. But after the Destruction of Alderaan, the Alliance could no longer sit idly by, and destroyed the superweapon, informally known as the "Death Star". Now, the Empire and the Alliance, hereto referred as the "Rebellion" are in a state of open warfare with the control of the galaxy hanging in the balance._

 _The conditions that I agreed to with the Empire in order to secure Mandalore's sovereignty are common knowledge. I feel it to be understatement that not everyone agreed with some of the sacrifices I had to make to prevent a full scale Imperial invasion including no written protecting for our Onderonian brothers and sisters, who have suffered higher taxation and stricter Imperial control as a result of our actions. But the primary concession that I made to the Empire's greatest enforcer, Darth Vader, was to declare the rebellion here on Mandalore "a Mandalorian uprising" or have all the blood of Mandalore on my hands. I did not hesitate to comply in the intrest of saving lives._

 _I never thought that this day would come, when multiple people on the street would stop me and ask "When are we beginning to fight the Empire?". The answer simply is not at this time. The Dark Lord of the Sith left no ambiguity in his words when he stated that he would burn Mandalore to the ground if we rebelled any further. I refuse to knowingly act against the Empire further on an organized scale knowing the consequences._

 _With that being said, any Mandalorian choosing to take up sides against, or for the Empire will not be shamed or lose their honor. The right of all free people is that of choosing to fight, and who to fight for, and that is a belief that I'm willing to stand by to my final breath._

 _My main priority at this time, is to help rebuild Mandalore herself, because without being strong ourselves, the day others need us we will be unable to help. Which is why I am embarking on the historic effort to fully rebuild Sundari, our sister city that was ransacked in the Clone War, left forsaken and derelict. We will need all of our greatest minds, our finest workers, those with the drive and will to embrace the challenges not seen since the rebuilding of Taris thousands of years ago._

 _I have no assumptions that these efforts will be easy, but they are necessary in order to move past the damages and pain of the past so that we may move forward as a planet, and as a society._

 _Forever your humble servant,_

 _Mand'alor Fenn Shysta_

 _Office of Mand'alor, Keldabe, MA, MNDLRE_

The speeder I'm in roughly touches down, and I smile to the driver while hopping out. He doesn't return my smile and simply takes off for the safety outside the dome of Sundari.

 _This place is just as much of a mess as I remember it._

Slowly, I begin walking down the large road the driver landed on, letting my eyes linger on the refuse piles, rubble and general wreckage of a city left unoccupied, then reoccupied by those with little to no other place to turn and no hope for over 18 years.

"Hey." I hit my comm. "I just landed on the north side of the city."

A moment passes before "We'll step into the main intersection, see if we're close." Will replies before the comm cuts off.

I nod while walking down the road more, observing what looks to be structurally sound buildings, building that will need to be demolished, and some building that have already fallen down.

 _Could have happened years ago, could have happened yesterday._

Two people step into a intersection with streetlights on either side before they start in my direction, and I smile then sip my caf that I grabbed before I left home this morning.

"Morning." I salute Prime and Will, who both take their helmets off and smile at me.

"I would say good morning, but…this is worse than I thought." Will comments.

Prime shakes his head. "We found seven bodies in that building—" he points down the road to what looks like an old shop with apartments on top. "No idea what happened, but they've decayed to the point that it's just skeletons now."

 _Blast._

I sigh then ask "Did you let a team know already?"

"Yup." Prime nods once, then we all begin walking down the road.

 _I'm not really in the mood to start going building to building, finding bodies._

"I can't believe he's doing this." Will says, a tone of disapproval in his voice.

Prime diplomatically nods, and I can feel a brief moment of tension before he replies "I can see why."

"I can see why too, but we're talking about hundreds of thousands of square kilometers inside this dome. Almost all will need to be tended to in some form or fashion." Will shakes his head. "It seems like a task too big."

"It'll take a long time. The city wasn't built in a day. We're tackling it in sections." I say evenly.

 _Mand'alor is having teams go along each of 20 drawn sections, detailing damage and rating the section on a scale of one to twenty. After that's done, a final team will go thru each sector and see which sectors need to be tackled first for reasons such as leaking hazardous materials, destruction and so on._

 _He's also negotiating with some of the banking clans to secure funding for the rebuilding of the city. The rumored amount is about 800 Sextrillion Credits, making it the largest loan in Mandalore's history. But the number makes sense when you look at the economic impact Sundari used to have, accounting for over 60 percent of a 60 octogintillion credit economy here on Mandalore._

The city will pay for itself very quickly. It's just about getting there.

 _One of the biggest hurdles right now, in a series of very large hurdles, is the humanitarian problem. At least a million people live here in this squalor, with some estimating the million number to be a tenth of the actual number living here. Mand'alor has set up programs to begin assisting those who fled to a place with no hope because obviously, if they came here, they had nowhere else to go._

 _Housing is being provided in Keldabe, Tokrush, many other smaller cities and town on Mandalore, Concordia has volunteered to house and assist as well as Onderon. The details are being worked out I assume by people delegated by Mand'alor._

"I know the mathematical equation _Mand'alor_ is following. I see it, but I don't want this to become a project that takes a generation." Will defends his position.

Prime adds "Nobody does, that's why all major construction projects that were scheduled were cancelled. All assets on the planet will be coming here."

Will smiles wryly before repeating one final time "I know."

"How'd Seeker take your request off today?" Prime turns to me, pointedly changing the subject.

I quickly laugh. "He didn't like it, but gave it to me. I'll just have to work with some of the kids more this week."

Both Will and Prime laugh loudly just before the sound of laughter echoes down the street, turning the scene from cheerful to eerie in an instant.

 _We're getting further and further from the crack in the dome. The light will start becoming unreliable soon, we'll have to break out glowrods._

A voice sounds out from my left, directly in front of Will and causes all three of us to freeze and turn toward the shout. "You heard that right?" Prime asks Will and I apprehensively.

"Yeah. I—" I reply before the voice says something again, this time undecipherable while a pile of fabric moves, revealing…

 _I don't know what species that is._

The stranger's voice pitches up, either warning us or frightened. Will makes the first move, showing the stranger his hands. "We're unarmed. We don't want to cause trouble."

I follow Will's example, exposing the palms of my hands before the stranger speaks once more, in the exact same tone before two smaller versions of the same species appear, visible by their eyes glowing.

"Kids." I turn to Prime, who nods.

"No harm…" Will repeats himself, taking a single step forward before the stranger makes a loud, clearly afraid noise.

"Whoa…" I say, then make a point to take a step back.

Prime turns to Will. "Maybe take a step back?"

"I think we can help." Will counters. "I've got a translator installed on my comm, but I have no clue what species that is and I don't think I should start guessing."

"Hit it, then we can see if they say something." Prime says to Will, who seems to turn the idea over in his head before hitting his comm three times and taking a step back.

Right away, our stranger calls out, the tone less fearful before Will smirks. "Got it, running thru the HoloNet's database…"

"Barabel, the native language of the Barabel." A female voice tells Prime, Wil land I.

"I've never heard of that species." I confess, before Will and Prime nod.

Will hits the comm. "Translate: "We are here peacefully." Then turns to Prime and I. "Turning it up."

A series of clicks sounds out before the sound evens out to something similar to what was initially shouted at us. Immediately, all three Barabel straighten right up.

"Turn that on so it picks up everything." Prime tells Will who does so just before the Barabel speak again.

The comm translates "If you are here peacefully, take a step back and fall to one knee."

I move to comply right away then watch Will and Prime do the exact same thing. The Barabel respond by turning to the taller of the two children and saying something.

"Stay there, I will investigate." The comm translates as the mother instantly snaps here head to look at us.

 _Oh blast._

Slowly and cautiously, the children watch as the mother slowly, cautiously, one measured step at a time before arriving ten feet away.

 _I should probably sit down and clear a spot for her to sit as well._

Deliberately showing her my palms first, I reach out, brush off some of the black dust and grime that's accumulated on the ground and create a clean space for her to stand, then do the same for me and sit down.

"We mean no harm. Your children are safe." Will says into the comm. The comm translates into the indistinguishable language, and the mother visibly relaxes before her strides become longer and she answers.

"How are you turning your language into mine?" The comm translates.

"Translator." Will points at his wrist.

Prime adds "Please, sit down." The comm translates both, and the mother crouches down, now almost within arms reach.

She says something, and the comm translates "Sit. Why come you have?"

"We came to help rebuild this place. What brought you here?" I say simply.

 _If I really explain, she'll probably get confused and we'll be back where we started._

"The war, between the Republic and the Separatists. Our home world was destroyed to make droids. My husband and I found ourselves on a ship that crashed. This was the first shelter we found and have been here ever since."

"Whoa." Prime mutters, only for the comm to translate and for her to turn to Prime and keep talking.

"You say that like much time has been passed. Is the war over?"

I nod. "It's been over for eighteen years. But there is an Empire now, that is as bad as the Separatists."

"We aren't with the Separatists." Will throws in helpfully, just before the mother's eyes go wide.

"That long? That long in the dark, waiting to come out?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Maybe."

The comm translates me, then the mother. "If it has been so long, why only come to our derisory home now?"

 _Derisory?_

"What's that word? Derisory?" Prime asks Will, who visibly shows his lack of understanding. Before the comm can translate, the mother speaks again.

"We have very little, few protections from the gangs and villains that live here. We were looted a time ago."

 _Whoa._

I smile warmly. "We aren't gangs or villains. We live on the outside. We are here to help." The comm translates, then she seems to think her response over for a moment.

"What do you mean when you say help?"

Will takes the opportunity to speak up. "We're here under _Mand'alor_ 's request. We want to rebuild this city, Sundari. We know people live here, and want to help them find safe places to live."

"Mand'alor ?" The woman asks us. "We're on Mandalore?"

 _She doesn't even know what planet she's on._

Will, Prime and I all nod. "Yes."

The comm translates, and the woman's head falls. "We are very far from our former home."

"This can be your new home. We only want to rebuild. Help everyone here back on their feet." Prime says gently.

"Yes! Yes!" the comm translates for the mother after she quickly claps. "We don't wish to be in this sad darkness anymore! Job! Work! Schooling! New planet!"

"You want a new start. Away from the wars and the violence." Will logically continues.

She claps again before her face turns completely different, into a happy looking expression.

"Comm for a counselor. We can get them going and registered." Will tell Prime before he speaks into his comm. "We are calling for some help, somebody who can begin to get you out of here. Okay?"

"Yes! That would be wonderful! Offspring!" She turns back and says something to her children, which the comm doesn't pick up.

The children both nervously peek out, then stand and slowly approach, the smaller one creeping along behind the bigger one.

"No harm, just help…" Will says evenly as Prime stands and begins to comm for some help while the mother watches and her children slowly approach.

"This is help. From the outside." The comm translates. "No harm will happen to you or us."

I smile at the scene before the smaller one peers out and locks eyes with me.

 _Their eyes are red._

"How do they understand us?" One of the children asks, and the comm translates.

"There." The mother points to Will's wrist. "Technology magic helps us speak peacefully."

 _They're hungry._

"I'm just reaching back to grab my lunch." I say, loud enough for the comm to pick up, and for the smaller Barabel to look fearful.

"Food." Will adds as I unzip the sandwiches and chips that Sabine packed for me.

 _They need it more than I do. I can see some of their ribs and other hard internal bones. I don't think it's supposed to be like that._

As quickly as I can without tearing the sandwich to pieces, I break off two similar sized pieces of one sandwich and extend one to each child. "Here. You look hungry."

The mother says something, which his translated to "Go ah—" before the sandwich pieces are out of my hands and being tentatively nibbled on.

 _They're definitely hungry._

I smile at the mother as her children go from nibbling, to gulping their pieces in a flash, causing me to smile and split the other half of the sandwich into halves for them.

"No, no, that's okay. Thank you though. Your kindness is appreciated." The comm translates for their mother, causing me to smile.

"If they're hungry, they can have all of this." I reply. "I'll be fine."

Will adds "We've just got small stuff. Jerky, high energy snacks. Do you like that sort of thing?" while reaching for his small satchel on his back. Quickly, both children nod fervently and Prime quietly laughs.

 _They're loosening up._

"Here." Prime dumps some of his trace mix that he loves and almost always brings along on a trip into both of their hands. "Tell me if you like that."

I smile and offer my other sandwich to their mother. "I'm sure you're hungry too."

"Oh, thank you. I'm quite fine." She replies, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I insist." I smile, then tear off half the sandwich and hand it to her.

 _I'm not taking no for an answer._

She simply eyes my sandwich for a moment, then picks at it and asks "So, rebuilding this shadowed land?"

"Yes." Prime nods as Will gives the children his favorite snack, a type of dried bread he picks up at the market regularly.

"Why?" She asks before taking a slightly larger bite of the sandwich.

"In this time of fighting the Empire, we're showing our strength by rebuilding ourselves. We cannot help another world if we are in pieces ourselves." Prime says expressively, a smile on his face.

Will hands all three of them a slab of jerky before we all fall silent as they eat. While they eat, I probe out and feel a few small Force signatures, but nothing powerful.

 _One is creeping up behind us though._

I smile before rising to my feet and turning to the figure, completely obscured and raise my hands. "We're here peacefully."

A rumbling voice responds before Will's comm translates. "Step away from my family or I beat you to blood."

The mother instantly leaps to her feet and our defense. "No, no! They're here to help. Amo, I know where we are. Mandalore." She says, rushing into the dark, stopping just short of who I assume is her husband.

"Why are they here."

"To help rebuild this place from these ashes. Sit, let them explain." She says in her native tongue, faster than when she spoke to Will, Prime and I.

"Excuse me?" A female voice calls out, flanked by armor-clad warriors. "I'm here on behalf of _Mand'alor_ and the relocation committee?"

Will hops to his feet as our Barabel friends all freeze up at the sight of the woman and her guard. "It's okay, they're with us. We asked them to come help."

"They're Barabel. We're using a translator to speak." Prime informs the woman, who begins tapping on her comm.

"I'm not here to harm you. I was sent to help and at _Mand'alor_ 's request." She says, then is translated into Barabel.

The male Barabel finally steps into view, hulking and wearing crude armor.

 _Probably due to a run in with the pirates and thieves._

"Alright, but will they leave?" The woman asks, points to me in particular.

"Yes." The woman nods. "They are being called elsewhere."

As soon as it's translated, both children call out and hop up, causing me to smile and crouch down. "It's okay. Here…" I say, then grab the rest of my lunch. "You guys eat every bite of that. I know you're hungry. I'll give your mother a way to contact me if you guys have trouble or questions."

Both of them eye me, then the bigger one barely nods, and I stick out my hand in a friendly gesture. They both grab it and I squeeze both of their hands. "It's gonna work out. It'll be okay."

The smaller one finally says something, which the comm translates to "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smile, before letting their hands go and rising to my feet as Will and Prime are talking to the relocation worker's guard.

 _With Mr. Wren and I think Prime's father behind everyone._

I bow my head to the Barabel's children's parents, then walk back to them. "Hi."

"Made some friends?" Mr. Wren asks as the worker crouches down and smiles at the two small Barabel.

I nod before Prime sidles up to me. "Gave them your comm."

"Thanks." I smile.

Will inclines his head. " _Alor."_ (A/N: Sir.)

"Will, Prime my boy, it's good to see you. It's worse than we thought here."

Mr. Wren adds " _Mand'alor_ is instituting a six hour work period in her maximum. In addition to the corpses you found, fifty other scouts have called in retrieval teams."

 _Oh it's bad in here…_

I cringe as Prime shakes his head. "No idea on who?"

"Too soon." Mr. Wren shakes his head.

I smile and extend my hand. "Mr. Agola, correct?"

 _I think this is him._

"Yes, that's me." He smiles warmly. "Good to see you young Ezra. Which reminds me, we sent your validation up to your home today I believe."

 _Huh?_

"What?" I ask in confusion before Prime and Will turn to each other.

"We forgot." Will blurts out as Mr. Wren smiles.

I turn and ask "Forgot what?"

" _Systa Agol_ sent a care package to our house in Keldabe a day or two ago with a variety of cuts of meat, pre seasoned and everything along with a lifetime discount at every vendor and market that is authorized to see their meats and products." Mr. Wren explains.

"And you're getting the same thing. Sabine and Sof too." Will smiles at me.

 _What…_

"Seriously?" I ask, before everyone nods. "Thank you sir." I nod and extend my hand to Kal's father.

 _It's his house, he has an empire in that industry, on every Mandalorian's wish list at a restaurant, and it's being given as a gift to me._

"It's the least my family and I can do." Mr. Agola shakes my hand graciously. "You've impacted my family, these boys' families, this entire planet. A slight gift is the very least I can do. You're also signed up for a regular gift package."

I glance down and bite my lip. "Thank you."

 _Kal said that he'd talk to his parents about it, but not to get my hopes up. They're not in the charity business, as evidenced by where they're at._

"My pleasure. Now a scout team found something, Carid and I checked it out, and _Mand'alor_ himself wants you to look at it." Mr. Agola seamlessly transitions as we start down the road.

" _Mand'alor_ himself?" Will asks, surprised.

Prime adds "What are we talking about?"

"A _Kom'rk_ class ship, but larger. We think it was Pre Vizla's before Maul gave him his end." Mr. Wren says simply.

"Whoa." Will blurts out as Prime looks surprised.

"The…Pre Vizla." I ask, looking for clarification.

Mr. Agola nods. "The scout team believes so. There was enough evidence that the task was delegated to you."

 _This could be a big trap then. Mines, tricks, anything is possible._

 _Maul had to get here somehow way back then. Why not in the ship of a man he killed?_

"It's just a little ways." Mr. Wren points down the road. "A building fell into it, and is leaning on it, so time is critical."

"Is it going to collapse?" prime asks.

Mr. Wren shakes his head. "No, the building has stopped in a way that it's fully supporting a tier of it. We're assuming t happened recently though. The debris looks fresh."

 _Okay._

The five of us follow Mr. Wren's lead for a few blocks before he turns right and Will jolts back.

"What the…"

 _It's been painted red. It's not like the blue of Prime's Kom'rk._

"It does look like it happened recently." Mr. Agola comments.

 _The whole place looks dusty, and not dirty._

I sigh then clear my throat and say "I'm expecting a trap, if not more than one. "

"We'll go first." Prime nods in my direction before we flank Mr. Wren and Mr. Agola as the ship begins to tower over us. I probe out, only to have the Force jangle a vague warning.

Shaking off a chill, I wait until I've taken a step onto the ramp before activating my lightsaber. "I've got a light warning." I tell Prime and Will, who are locked in behind me.

 _Let's see what we're dealing with._

I wave open the door, step into the loading bay and spot…

"Oh now this…this is interesting." Prime mutters as Will walks to an open box and pulls out a huge bar of gold metal.

"Had to carry their money with them, had to be quickly convertible on any planet." Will comments, opening a box to reveal more gold bars along with stacks of circuits.

"I think we're talking…half a million credits per box?" Prime says, doing the math in his head then flashing a glow rod into the deep cargo bay, as the boxes go on for at least forty feet, stacked five or six high the whole way.

 _Sheesh._

A "beep!" causes all three of us to jump, only for Mr. Agola to be holding a handheld scanner.

"Sorry…" He laughs. "No life forms on here."

 _Then I'm betting that the Force is just lingering around the mere memory of Maul._

I deactivate my lightsaber and snap my glow rod on. "Okay. Then let's see what else is in here."

(A/N: For readers of Flaming Rebellion, welcome back, and to new readers, glad to have you! Took me longer than I expected to get going, but I didn't want to write most of that time. I'm burnt out lol. These chapters are going to be more one-shots than anything, but will all be in chronological order up until the final chapter. Chapter 2 will come…well, when I feel the need to write. Thanks for reading, and for your patience. –James)


	2. Teacher

"Gzzzhhh…"

I smile while setting the last of the dishes away, then walk over to the couch, where Sof is passed out under her pink blanket and holding her bear.

"Okay Sof, let's…get you and Beary to bed." I smile while gently lifting her up and turning to the basement stairway.

Sof completely ignores the movement by curling up and cuddling her bear as I carefully descend the stairs then turn right towards her bed.

 _Sof's got a really nice setup down here. Her own holo that we found used for cheap, bed, dresser, bookshelves, she's in the process of painting her room, pictures everywhere, her bow over by itself in the corner of the room closest to the door…_

"Why'm I moving." Sophie finally mumbles, sounding exhausted.

"You fell asleep on the couch. Couldn't let you sleep there." I smile as Sof rolls over in my arms and peers sleepily up at me.

Sof frowns at me. "Sorry I fell asleep. Dinner was yummy."

"Don't say sorry for falling asleep." I tell her then set her on her bed. "Change into your jammies, brush your teeth then try to get to sleep quick. Big day tomorrow."

Sophie's eyes light up and is quickly followed by her smile. "I will. I'm excited for tomorrow!"

"Me too. Night. Sleep well." I smile back, then move to hug her.

Sof quickly hugs me, smiles and yawns and her pants rise up enough to grab my attention. "Night Ezra."

 _Those pants were starting to be good in case of a flood. She's growing right out of them._

"Night." I wave, then turn around and dim the lights for Sof except for the one by her bed, then sneak back up the stairs and toward the office.

 _I'll have to talk to her Mom about that._

"Tracked a series of ships to Tatooine, where he went to Jabba the Hutt's palace."

 _Jabba the Hutt's palace?_

Mrs. Wren asks "What would he want from a slum lord like the Hutt's?"

"Don't know." Sabine adds. "But whatever he went for, he got it because our recon team got caught moving to listen in and regrouped to surround him."

"Uh oh." I quietly say as I slip past the cracked door.

Sabine nods. "He slaughtered them all, keeping one member's comm on him the whole time to get his signature line. "All I'm surrounded by is fear. And dead men."

 _I feel like we've heard that one before._

"He's reusing material." I shake my head sarcastically.

Both Mrs. Wren and Sabine laugh quietly. "Well, he's been so busy knocking heads he probably doesn't have time to come up with new material." Sabine smirks, then turns to the empty Vader helmet just out of reach. "Apologies, my Lord but the truth hurts."

I can't help but laugh for a moment. "Do we kind of know where he is now?" Her mom asks.

"Yes, on Geonosis. We've found a secondary way to track Vader, thru an archeologist by the name of Dr. Aphra. Where her ship is, Vader is usually in the system. Ramordia thinks that she's a rebel target."

"Good call." I nod sadly.

 _The less they know, the better._

Mrs. Wren asks "How about the Imperial Joint Chiefs?"

"No word."

"And all this has been presented to Leia and the Council?"

Sabine nods, then we all stay quiet for a moment.

"How about Luke? What's he up to?" I turn and as Sabine.

She shrugs. "Nothing too much. Ran an errand for Ackbar, which he got done no problem. They're starting to trust him."

"Anything exciting happen?" I ask. Instantly, Sabine shakes her head.

"Disobeyed Leia's direct order. Other than that, no. I can grab the file if you want to look at it." Sabine volunteers.

I nod as Mrs. Wren sips her wine. "So, how long did you two know about him before you told us?"

"Mom…" Sabine sighs as I can't help but cringe.

Mrs. Wren quickly raises her hands to show she isn't angry. "I know you had your reasons…" She says delicately. "I just want to know. Carid wants to blackmail Lux into dinner."

"Just ask." I counter.

 _He'd buy dinner once if they asked._

Mrs. Wren shakes her head. "You don't understand those two. At a certain point, everything becomes about one-upping each other. They've know each other since before Sabine was born."

Sabine looks to me, a reluctant look on her face before turning to her mother. "Over a year. We found out just before you came to see us on Dxun."

Her mom whistles quietly. "Wow. That's longer than I was expecting."

"It's one of the reasons Vader began to respect me, indirectly. I knew more about him, so I knew what not to do."

"What buttons not to push. Did he know that you knew?"

I nod. "Yes. And he responded with tips on how to help my lightsaber form and thinking thru a fight."

"I remember that…" Sabine muses. "Kanan wasn't a huge fan of you putting those to use."

"Did they help?" Mrs. Wren asks.

"Yeah, a ton." I nod, then let my eyes wander to some of Sabine's art. "I've used those lessons in every fight since then."

 _This piece in front of my used to be glass, but she's melted it and thrown in some minerals to add some color to it._

She's been selling some art in Keldabe proper in the months since Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star. It's kind of been a hobby or passion project for her when she's not being Fulcrum.

"Not to change topics completely, but you might want to think about shopping for Sof. Her shirt and pants seemed tight on her when I took her to bed." I speak up, causing both Mom and Daughter to turn to me.

Mrs. Wren's face falls. "I know, we will right after we get back to Keldabe. She's growing weird."

"Weird?" Sabine echoes.

"Yeah." Her Mom nods. "She'll go weeks where it doesn't seem like she grows. Then one morning you can see her tummy on her favorite shirt. I've bought three versions of that purple shirt with the wolves on it that she loves. It's weird."

"But she's okay?" I make sure.

Mrs. Wren nods. "Yeah, we've had her checkups, and she's fine. She just doesn't grow like Sabine, who was always up and up and up you could almost schedule it."

 _She does like being on time and prompt._

I smirk over at Sabine, who reads my mind, reaches out and punches my arm. "Shut up."

"But I didn't say anything. I—" I answer defensively

"Shut up!" She punches me again.

Mrs. Wren just shakes her head and turns back to the holo. "How's the house working out for you two?"

 _Good._

"Good." Sabine returns to her calm state. "Really, just boring."

"Hah." Mrs. Wren laughs. "So you guys have found your normal. That's good."

I smile back. "How's Keldabe? House quieter now that we're gone?"

"A lot more boring. And quieter. A lot quieter." Mrs. Wren smiles, then trails off mournfully.

 _She misses us._

"Do you have anything big planned for tomorrow?" Sabine asks me.

 _Huh?_

"What?" I parrot back to her.

Sabine rolls her eyes gently. "What do you have planned for tomorrow?"

"For Sof and everyone? I'm going to teach them a few fun, but basic moves they'll be able to use." I explain.

"What is it?" Mrs. Wren asks.

"Diagonal chops on either side. They'll want to swing the swords, so I'm going to try to corral that." I say before Sabine smiles.

"That should work."

I add "We'll be using super dull blades, so they won't be able to cut each other."

"Good idea, they'll only be able to whack each other." Mrs. Wren nods.

Sabine turns to me "They won't be swinging as hard as they can right?"

"Yeah." I say dismissively. "And if they don't listen, they won't have a sword. Period. But they won't. I've got a few ideas to get them engaged."

Mrs. Wren and Sabine both laugh. "Oh yeah?" Mrs. Wren asks. "What's that?"

"You'll see. It'll happen about when you guys come in." I smile, getting them both to laugh again.

 _(The Next Day)_

"Good, good…keep that pace but keep your footwork." I call out as the fight in front of me reaches a the boiling point.

 _Either it devolves and becomes a mudslinging contest with swords, or evolves to a beautiful fight that whoever executes better wins._

"Clink—Tink—GRSSSHHH!"

I sit up a little straighter on my crate and clear my throat. "PUSH HIM! Don't give him a free breath!" The fight continues, with one of the newer girls pushing an old student of mine all around the room, dutifully trying to not let him break free from her vice grip on the battle.

"YAH!" He yells desperately, releasing a spontaneous jab, catching her off guard and sending her into a panicked backpedal.

 _THAT'S IT!_

I smile as he gathers his wits and starts attempting to work her on either side while working her toward the corner of the room.

 _Another few steps and she's trapped._

The Force gently tugs for my attention, and I reach out only to feel Sof, Mrs. Wren and Will nearby. Out of curiosity I snap my eyes away from the battle and see small children in the hall.

 _Back to the fight._

My eyes reach the fight just in time, as he spins her one final time into the corner so that she really has no clue she's stuck.

 _She's going to turn and—_

"WHACK! Clink…" She turns right into the corner in an attempt to escape, only to run face first into the wall and drop her sword. Her opponent slices at where her sword should have been, making a diagonal mark on the wall.

I smile, then hop off the wall. "Okay, enough! _Thogr_ , good job. _Iyshi_ had no idea where she was, and that's a credit to you." _Iyshi_ blushes in embarrassment.

"Don't view that as a true loss though _Iy_." I mend her ego. " _Thogr_ put to work what I've been preaching about being decisive with a move and put it together with the timing of the fight. He won it a lot more than you lost it." I say, then gesture for them to sit.

"It's all about decisiveness and knowing situation when using this tactic. What do I always tell you guys?" I ask the room.

"Always finish a fight early." My students say in unison, causing me to smile.

"Exactly." I clap my hands together, then pull the remote for my practice droid out of my pocket and hit the power button. " _Thogr_ did it late, but he did it. If an opportunity presents itself early on, jump on it. The longer a fight goes, the weirder it gets. Looks you've never seen, things I definitely wouldn't think to teach you guys, you get my point. Now…"

 _Now._

"If you look behind me to my left, we have some visitors today. The younger classes down at _shuk'orok Mando'ad_ in Keldabe." I smile, then peer back to the doorway to see that they've silently piled around the doorway, with Sof up front with Kex beside her. Mrs. Wren and Will are beside each other in the back.

"I don't want you guys to feel pressure, they're here to learn about swordfighting. I've already paired you up and assigned you to a group. They'll go to you for questions, do your best to answer them. If you think it's worth it, come ask me. Now, enough on that." I smile, instantly loosening the class up again. "Lunch should begin any moment now."

Right on cue, the lunch bell chimes, causing a rush toward the door before Mrs. Wren and Sof slip through.

" _Verd_?" A familiar voice chimes quietly behind me, forcing me to turn and see Brir lingering behind me.

I smile encouragingly while giving him a quick once over with my eyes. "Yes Brir?"

"Do you have some tape or something? The grip on my sword tore in my hand…" he says sheepishly before showing me a torn handgrip and a bloody palm.

Quickly, I take the sword and try not to cringe. "Yeah, I'll fix it. Go get your hand wrapped though. You'll want it tight so that it doesn't blister and make you sit out."

"It's not that bad." He frowns at me.

"But it will be if you don't get it wrapped." I counter, leaving no room to argue. "Off you go."

Brir seems to mull over his options for a moment, then walks to the door. "Didn't want to go, now did he?" Mrs. Wren says quietly as I probe out.

 _Sabine's here._

I can't help but smile and nod to Mrs. Wren. "I'll probably sit him. His hand could get seriously messed up and go from a day or two to a week's thing."

"Who'd you hurt this time?" Sabine chimes sarcastically, causing me to turn and for Will and Kex to laugh as Sophie is drifting over toward the practice swords.

"I didn't hurt anyone. He tore the grip in his hand. What'd you bring?" I ask as my stomach rumbles.

Sabine glances down to the basket on her shoulder. "Sandwich stuff mostly. But I sold another one of my glass pieces right before I did some shopping."

 _Ooh._

"What'd you get Sabine?" Her mother asks, taking the basket.

"3200 credits." Sabine says with a straight face.

"What?!" Will blurts out in shock

"Seriously?" I add.

Sabine nods. "I tried to be a little more sales oriented today, and asked what he thought it was worth. That's what he thought it was, so I sold it to him for that."

"Good job _Sab'ika_." Mrs. Wren smiles, unpacking the sandwiches and Sophie and Kex begin lightly tapping two practice swords together.

I smile and lean against the wall, catching Kex's eyes and for him to freeze up. "No, no." I shake my head. "Show me what you got."

"Okay!" He lights up, then starts combatting Sophie, who spins and jabs clumsily at him. Kex bats the jab away before the blade shakes in his hand and he chops at Sof's waist. Sof blocks it horizontally…then does an awkward imitation of my salute.

 _Makashi Salute…she's stealing my material._

My eyes follow the action as Sophie pushes Kex back, their blades pushed together before Kex suddenly moves, sending Sophie stumbling before wildly swinging and nearly connecting directly with Kex's forehead. "Whoa! Hey! Stop." I raise my voice, causing Sof and Kex to stop and turn to me. "Okay…rule number one. No wild swings. Always have an idea…of what you're doing. Sof, you came about _this close_ to splitting Kex's head open." I say, holding my index and middle fingers infinitesimally apart.

"Sorry." Sophie's eyes fall to the floor.

"Don't say sorry to me." I counter, causing Sof to shrink up more.

"I'm sorry Kex."

Kex smiles. "It's okay."

"Now…" I slow down and grab both of their eyes again. "That was good. The biggest thing I'd change is for both of you to just stand up. You were both crunched up."

"Lunch is ready." Mrs. Wren calls out.

The entire room turns to the table she, Sabine and Will have set up for us all to make sandwiches with chips and drinks off to the side.

"Looks great." I thank Mrs. Wren.

She smiles, then beckons me to the table. "You've been working. Come fill your plate first."


	3. Greetings

Sabine sets the ship down gracefully, or at least as gracefully as she can, prompting the ship to shudder slightly before her parents, sister and I all unbuckle our seatbelts and I stand up. "Great landing Sabine."

"Awesome!" Sophie adds brightly.

"Thanks." Sabine answers while leaning forward. "When we go outside, check that I'm not scraping the ceiling."

I nod, leading Sof towards the loading ramp as Prime and Aidan climb the ladder off to my left. "Thanks for coming guys."

Prime laughs once before Aidan answers sardonically "I did my makeup for this damn photoshoot, and you put me on crew duty to get here."

"Sorry." I smile at Prime. "Thanks for doing such a great job!"

"Now let's go outside and see the damage we've inflicted on this poor hanger." Prime smiles.

 _It was a tight fit with the wings having to be vertical in order to land. We almost had to go find a spot outside instead of a hanger._

The landing bay door raises right when we arrive, allowing Sof and I to not break stride and walk right into the cavernous hanger before I glance up and see that we're feet from hitting the ceiling with our wings, but importantly, not doing so.

"I didn't ask when you commed ahead and said you had your own ride here. Where…did you get this?" Hera says, anger and disbelief equally in her voice.

Sophie simply runs past Hera and towards Zeb and Chopper as I smile. "Found it while cleaning up Sundari. Funny story, actually used to be Maul's."

"Maul's?" Kanan's eyes raise as Hera frowns.

"It's almost too big to be a functional Rebel ship. Not to mention the unique design." She sighs. "Is it yours? And what diagnostics have you run on it?"

Mr. Wren's voice rises behind me. "Full diagnostic. You think it's really too unique?"

Hera pushes a lekku behind her shoulder. "I'll think about it. I was hoping it would be a YT-1300 like the Falcon…"

"Does it have a name?" Zeb smiles at Sophie, who is dangling over his shoulder.

"The _Starbird!_ " Sophie nods. (A/N: Shoutout goes to Meldy-Arts on Tumblr, the best Sabezra artist ever. She came up with the name I believe, and if nothing else, you should go check her work out. It's amazing.)

 _I'm not sold on the name quite yet. Sabine and I have just referred to it as the 'Star, but Sof came up with the name while Sabine was doing some basic painting and priming of the ship's outer hull._

I glance back to Kanan. "When does the meeting start?"

"Whenever everyone gets there." Kanan answers, and I nod in understanding.

 _This is the first big, big meeting since the Death Star blew up. And really, it's not all that big, nothing pressing is on the docket. But we're here, Luke and Leia are here, Mon Mothma is comming in so it's important._

 _In all likelihood, Sabine will be in meetings with the other Fulcrum's, but I can put in a request for somebody to go back to Jedha and see if there's anything Jedi related that survived or something. Plus Maddie from the Ramordia cell is apparently here from what Sabine said so I'll have somebody to talk to. She said in her last comm that she wanted to talk to us._

Sabine and her parents lead the way to the hanger door, and I slip behind Zeb and Chop then probe out to find a sparsely populated base here on Pantora as well as Kanan keeping his eye on me.

"How have things been here?" I ask Kanan, who turns back to me and shakes his head.

"I really don't know, I've been with Rin on Glee Anselm. Ahsoka and I thought about it, and right now we're being hunted so badly by the Empire, that it's probably best for him to be at home, among his people while we train him."

 _That's logical at least. Give him some cover._

My head bobs as I try to think of a decent response before settling on "And how's that going?"

"It's going about as well as Sabine says your lessons are. Are you at least enjoying them?" Kanan smiles at me

"Yeah." I smile. "I think I might be able to help Rin a little more now than before we moved to Tokrush."

Kanan's eyes flash forward before Zeb drifts over to Hera as she turns in Zeb's direction. "Hey Sophie, while Ezra and Sabine and being boring taking pictures, do you want to fly the _Phantom_ with Chopper?"

"Yeah!" Sof beams, then turns to her Dad. "Can I daddy? Pleeeeeaseee?"

Mr. Wren smiles grudgingly. "Yes, you can."

"YAY! Thank you!" Sof beams, at her father then at Zeb as he tilts his head up with a smile on his face as well.

"I like the beard. Could use some work though." Kanan pulls my attention back to him before I see him smiling.

Shaking my head, I answer "Sabine likes it, and I've got to grow it if it's going to get better."

Kanan laughs once, then keeps smiling. "I know, I was your age once."

 _Yeah, getting into bar fights and drinking late into the night from the little bit Hera's said._

"Just let it grow naturally, shape it here and there. If you want it thicker, just shave completely off." Kanan explains off handedly.

"And look like I'm 10 again?" I laugh at Kanan, who has grown his normal goatee out to a normal beard now. "No thanks."

"I'd give you 14." Mrs. Wren teases me, causing Sabine to laugh and for me to roll my eyes at her before a door in front of us opens, revealing a room full of people assembled. Sweeping the room, I spot Leia, Luke, Han, Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma scattered across the room.

 _With Maddie all alone._

I break away from the others wordlessly, smile and walk in her direction as she leans again the wall, sipping on a cup while looking nervous. "Nervous?"

She jumps up in the air, sees me and loosens up a bit. "Ezra, you got me. Sorry."

"It's fine. Mind if I join you?" I ask, settling on the wall next to her and feeling a few pairs of eyes on me.

"No, of course not. You don't have to though, I see Sabine…and friends?"

I turn and smile. "Her family. Mine too, I guess."

Maddie laughs once, then stops, eliciting an involuntary laugh from me. "Well you can go be with them. I don't even know why I'm here, just that I was summoned here."

"I know why." I smile, then point to the massive map of the galaxy on the far wall behind Leia and a gathered group. "You know why we've had you guys monitoring the underground holo frequencies?"

"To see if routes are really clear, to monitor if there's a quiet groundswell of support somewhere, things like that."

I smile and incline my head. "And those frequencies also reveal Imperial positions on occasion, right?"

"Yeah, most people that use those are smugglers trying to evade…I get it now." Maddie's eyes light up proudly. "It's a map."

"Of every known Imperial position. Every Star Destroyer, Cruiser, secret bases…you get the drift." I smile happily in her direction. "That's why you're here, and why you've been expanding from monitoring just selected Imperials and their associates."

 _Aphra, Vader, Palpatine even though he never leaves Coruscant._

Before Maddie can speak, I add one more thing. "Don't tell anyone I said that. Cells are deliberately kept in the dark so that if they fall and we can't stop it, not everyone gives away the secrets because nobody has them all."

"I understand." Maddie swallows nervously. "Back home, it doesn't really feel like a war. We're just monitoring comms. Here though…"

"You feel it." I finish her sentence.

 _I know what she means. Things just feel different. There's an edge. An edge that I've gotten used to, but she's in it for the first time._

She nods. "Sorry, I sound like a kid."

"No, I get it. I felt the same way. We were a cell ourselves once. And we all felt the exact same way before it became normal."

"Yeah…OH!" She jumps straight into the air. "I've got something for you guys. Sabine said to monitor some known Imperial Military Channels and see if I found something."

"And you found something?" I ask sarcastically, knowing the answer.

She nods. "I think it's the start of something. I don't know if you've got any experts on Imperial structure around here, but…" She hands me a datapad. "Iden Versio. Daughter of Garrick Versio, Admiral in the Imperial Military. She's, well, was in the Starfighter Corps."

"And he didn't have her safely tucked away on a Star Destroyer?" I ask, glancing at the information on the datapad, which has a streak on nail polish at the top of the cover.

 _That's odd. And I think this is her personal datapad._

"Nope." Maddie shakes her head. "She was chasing down that pilot, Skywalker who blew the Death Star to smithereens. Somehow…I don't know how, the thing blew up without blowing her up. Her ship bounced around the wreckage of the Death Star until they invaded Yavin IV, like you know. They picked her up then."

I nod as I flick past her personal information.

 _Homeworld: Vardos_

 _Species: Human_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Eye color: Brown_

 _Skin color: Dark_

"What's so special then?" I ask.

"It's not her, it's what I think she's being put into. Special Forces. I found a loophole in a brand new server the Empire was making. Inside were lists of soldiers broken up into squads. She's Inferno Squad, but there's Torrent Squad, Fulmort Faction and Frostbite Squad."

 _Sounds like groups of special forces being created, then put together later._

I smile at the list. "Good find. Any idea on where these soldiers are?"

"No." She declines. "Just lists of names."

"Okay. Awesome work. Really, this could come in really handy later. Can you stay in that server? Imbed yourself and just gather intel?"

Maddie nods, then glances at somebody behind me. "Yeah, of course. You can keep that datapad by the way."

"No, it's yours. I'll ask a tech to transfer the data on it and get it back to you." I dismiss her concerns before glancing to my right and seeing Han Solo patiently waiting behind me. "Oh, hi."

"Hi, sorry to interrupt." Han smiles nervously, then leans around me and waves to Maddie. "Hi."

Maddie waves, but says nothing in response. "Did Leia tell you to come over to tell me to shut up?" I ask Han.

 _Probably, we've been talking over here incessantly waiting for this meeting to start._

"No, actually. Meeting wasn't really a meeting, just gathering people to tell them where to go. Do you have a minute?" He asks as Chewie sidles up behind him.

"I guess, yeah." I say, then turn to Maddie.

She smiles, then takes her datapad back. "I'll go find a tech for this." She smiles, then leaves Han, Chewie and I.

"So, what's going on? Can I help with something?" I ask, trying to appear genuine.

 _He annoyed the hell out of me last time I saw him, and all he would talk about is getting paid and bailing on the Rebellion._

"Yeah, actually. Leia and I were thinking, well, I was thinking, that uhm, I got off on a bad start with you." Han stumbles over his own words while scratching the back of his neck nervously.

 _Every bit of the Force screams nervous coming from him._

"Yeah, you did but it happens. Did Leia put you up to this?" I smile thru my slight irritation.

 _Or can I dismiss this now and go find Sabine._

Han starts talking as I probe out and feel Sabine, Prime and Aidan walking on a level below. "—mentioned it, but no, it's me. I felt bad about our last conversation and wanted to set things right. And to thank you for buying us time against that Vader guy."

"Just doing my job. There's a lot more going on than you probably think." I frown at thin air.

"I'm learning that." Han replies before Chewie roars, or growls in assent.

Helplessly, I look back and smile at Chewie. "I don't know what you said, sorry. Should I grab my comm and get a translator?" Immediately, Chewie shakes his head and moves his arms around in a negative way.

 _Probably not then._

"So, are you staying on?" I get right to the point.

Han shrugs, then the air comes out of him. "For right now, yeah with the whole galaxy looking for me, not to mention the Princess and Luke. The Falcon can barely leave a hanger without five calls being made on her."

"It'll calm down. There's a lot of ships out there. Another one will do something daring and forget all about it."

"Not my ship." Han jumps in. "We made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Ain't nobody in the galaxy forgetting that whale of a trip anytime soon."

"Forgive me, I don't know what that is" I admit. "Kessel Run is a trading route, right?"

Han just stares at me for a moment, dumbfounded. "yeah, kind of. Kind of a trading route. You really aren't impressed, are you?"

"Takes a lot to impress me." I tell him. "I've seen a lot."

"You're just a kid though."

I smile, then wave the door in front of me open, revealing a line to take picture. "And what, because you're older that changes things? Hate to break it to you, but things are earned around here."

Han seems to take that in, then nods. "I'll keep that in mind." before walking away.


	4. Learning on the Job

"Creak…"

"I'm home!" I call out, stepping inside the front door before I look around for Sabine.

"KLUNK!"

"DAMMIT! Kriffing, _jutaniir le sa osik…_ Ahhh!" Sabine says, anger pouring out of her voice as pots and pans clink and clang in the sink.

 _She's in the kitchen._

Putting a smile on my face, I set my work bag down and walk toward Sabine. "Hi."

"AHHH!" Sabine jumps straight up in the air, screams, then grabs the scrubbing brush and points in at me like a weapon before relaxing. "Don't…DO THAT!"

"Sorry." I say meekly, then smile. Sabine doesn't return it, and she scowls before turning back to the sink. "Everything okay?"

"No."

 _Okay._

"Can I help?" I ask her as she violently keeps scrubbing at a deep dished pan.

 _It can't be that dirty that she has to scrub so hard._

Sabine hesitates, then shakes her head and blurts out. "Can we like…order in dinner? I know Rex and Echo and Ahsoka and Lux and Mom, Dad and Sof are coming tomorrow. I've cooked a ton this week, and just don't want to cook."

"Sure, yeah. I'll even go get it." I volunteer. "What do you want?"

 _This isn't about the food._

"I don't care, just get something." She comments, voice still biting.

I bite my lip, then take a step forward. "Hey…babe. What's wrong? I'm dumb, but I know this isn't about food."

"It's Luke!" She says, then shoves the brush aside and sending water everywhere, soaking one of my sleeves. "He…Vader found him."

"He WHAT?!" I yell.

"See why I'm so pissed! He stumbled into Vader, tried fighting him, AND told him his name! Secret's out!" Sabine rants, stepping away from the sink before letting out a scream of frustration.

 _WHAT?!_

I find myself involuntarily clenching my fists before pacing around. "How'd you find out?"

"Mission briefing. I mean, can he be any more stupid?!" Sabine asks while pacing around the living room. "I mean, he lives in the lap of ease and comfort of that sandball Tatooine, then is plucked out, told he could be a powerful fighter, SAYS NO TO HER DAD'S MASTER because Master Kenobi died then goes and finds said Dad and says basically "oh hi, I'm your son!" Are you kriffing KIDDING ME?!"

"Can I see this briefing?" I ask her, and instantly Sabine darts back to the office.

"I'm sorry I'm so mad, but we were never, EVER this clueless and stupid. EVER!" Sabine keeps ranting. "You barely knew what you were doing on Lothal, but at least you had basic sense! Luke has no basic sense! Oh hey, big guy in black, carrying a lightsaber that committed a murder right before my eyes. Let's strike up a conversation and exchange business chips or something!"

I laugh as I follow Sabine into the office, where Vader's helmet peers down from its shelf behind the desk with his lightsaber right behind it. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't care, whatever you want." Sabine blows past my question. "I'm sending the report leia forwarded to us. The prescript will make you laugh." She rolls her eyes while extending her datapad to me.

' _Hey, just gathered this. Don't be to mad, it was a string of unfortunate events. They're okay. Plan to holo later. – L'_

"Don't be too mad?" I laugh in disbelief. "Oh really? So we're supposed to just be calm about this? About our grand plans being destroyed before they even have a chance? Oh, and really Sabine, what do you want to eat? I don't care, and you've had a day. What sounds good to you."

For the first time, Sabine stops for a split second and clearly thinks about it. "Well…I like the sound of a Kibi bucket with mashed potatoes, large thing of gravy and their house mayonnaise cole slaw."

 _Spicy on all of it. The place in Tokrush is a favorite fast place to grab food. Not healthy, but sometimes you just need to spoil yourself._

"I'll add a small thing of biscuits and honey." I smile. "When are Rex and Echo coming in?"

"Soon." Sabine answers as the report loads onto my datapad. "I'll comm them and say you're grabbing dinner in town. They might want something else."

"Maybe." I shrug and take the datapad from her. "Go sit down, I'll take care of the dishes later."

Sabine's expression turns painful. "You sure?"

"Yeah, you've clearly had a day. Sir down."

"But you just got home from work. Literally. And I just exploded into a rant." Sabine looks guilty.

I smile, then step forward and hug her. "It's okay. I think I can still love you." Immediately, Sabine curls to me and laughs.

"Maybe. I'd appreciate it if you tried."

"I will." I promise, then lean back and kiss her cheek. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"It's gonna take a minute since you're not ordering ahead." She calls out to me as I start toward the living room and the door.

I look back and smile. "I know. Gives me time to read what Leia sent." In response, Sabine rolls her eyes.

"Byeeeee!" She pitches her voice up.

"Byeeee!" I mimic her right back before she start laughing and I reach the side door.

 _I think I put her in a little better mood._

Letting my feet and muscle memory guide me to our speeder, I start glancing at Leia's communication.

" _Assault on Cymoon 1_

 _0.85 ABY_

 _Summary: The assault began as an infiltration, with Han Solo posing as an emissary for Jabba the Hutt in a weapons deal with the Empire; Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa posed as his bodyguards. Once inside the factory, the Rebels revealed themselves, attacked the Imperials, freed a number of slaves, and set the facility's power core to overload. Their plans changed, however, when Darth Vader arrived at the factory and ordered the facility into full alert. The Rebels hijacked an AT-AT to use in their escape, while Skywalker briefly confronted the Dark Lord of the Sith in lightsaber combat before the walker arrived._

 _Solo crashed the AT-AT through the factory's walls, giving the Rebels and the slaves an opening to escape from the facility. As they made their escape, the Rebels engaged in open combat with Vader and the Imperial forces, and the Dark Lord killed a number of the freed slaves. Skywalker took out some of the Imperial forces using the weapons on a speeder bike, while Solo used the AT-AT to fire on, but only slightly injure, the Dark Lord._

 _The assault ended with the destruction of Weapons Factory Alpha, and the Rebels were able to escape."_

Wait a second…Leia was there too?!

 _Don't get mad! We both almost died!_

I let out a sigh, flip on the speeder and reflexively pull the speeder into the air and race over the tree line directly to our east and fly toward Tokrush.

 _Since there's no houses or buildings, I can go over 100 KPH and get into town in minutes._

The scene around me becomes a blur of shades of green and grey as I immerse myself into the Force, allowing it to warn me about any real dangers. Before I really know it, the area around me is almost purely gray, and I can spot the outskirts of the city.

Braking easily, I loop around the first major outcropping of building and find a parking lot with a decent amount of speeders already parked, then set my speeder down, hop out and drift in the direction of the restaurant while reading the details of the report.

' _While Solo and Organa boarded a walker, Skywalker remained in the facility, where he searched for Vader; Skywalker believed—as Kenobi had once told him—that Vader had killed Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker briefly engaged the Dark Lord in lightsaber combat, but the young Rebel was quickly and easily bested. Vader used the Force to disarm Skywalker, and Vader recognized that Skywalker's lightsaber once belonged to Anakin Skywalker—Vader's former self—before falling to the dark side of the Force._

 _Skywalker was able to escape from the Dark Lord when Solo brought the AT-AT's foot crashing down into the middle of the confrontation. The slaves Skywalker freed also rebelled against the Imperial forces, and Solo piloted the walker through the facility. The Dark Lord, meanwhile, killed the slaves who were in his path—using Skywalker's lightsaber—and ordered all stormtroopers to his position so the Rebels could be eliminated. Inside the AT-AT, Artoo and a pair of freed Jawas attempted to enable the walker's weapons, which had not yet been fully assembled inside the factory. The Rebels contacted Threepio in the hopes that the threat to the Falcon had been ended, but the native scavengers were still ripping the ship apart. Following the Rebels' orders, Threepio went outside of the Falcon in an attempt to stop the scavengers, but he surrendered and was captured after dropping his weapon.'_

A customer who is exiting holds the door for me and I slip inside then join a cue for the ordering screens. After quickly scanning the seating area for familiar faces, I glance back at my datapad.

' _As Organa and Solo continued on, they encountered more Imperial reinforcements. Solo contacted Skywalker, who was busy fighting several pursuing stormtroopers and walkers, for assistance. Organa then realized that the factory hasn't exploded yet and that the Imperials must have stopped the meltdown. Just then, Aggadeen contacted Vader and reported that the meltdown has been halted. Vader then ordered Aggadeen to send troops to his location to prevent the rebels from escaping. Vader proceeded to attack the AT-AT Organa and Solo are in by slicing it's legs. Skywalker looks on in horror as the AT-AT's legs are destroyed, causing it to collapse with Solo and Organa inside it._

 _With the AT-AT down, Vader orders his troops to move in for the kill. Skywalker quickly arrives and strikes down Vader's troops. Organa then pulls an injured Solo out of the wreckage and orders the slaves to head for the trash fields. Vader orders his troops to ignore the slaves and capture the rebels. As Organa, Solo and the slaves head to the Falcon, Skywalker decides to go back and destroy the factory. Vader then orders his troops to go after the rebels and slaves while he deals with Skywalker. With Vader in pursuit, Skywalker re-enters the factory and fire his speeder's blasters on the power core, causing it to overload. Skywalker's speeder gets hit by Vader. Believing this to be his final moments, Skywalker apologizes to his father for not being the Jedi he was. The factory explodes, and Vader emerges from the wreckage and sees Skywalker's destroyed speeder. Vader then sees the Millennium Falcon flying off. With an injured Skywalker in tow, Organa pilots the Falcon out of Cymoon 1. Coming across the Imperial blockade, Leia activates the hyperspace drive and makes the jump to lightspeed.'_

I laugh to myself darkly while taking a step forward and frown at the screen ahead of me.

 _Sounds a lot like Safe Zone getting compromised. Yeah, technically we got out, but we lost just by the Empire finding us. Here, Luke, Han and Leia got caught out, Luke nearly committed suicide shooting at the station's power core after taking Vader on with his lightsaber._

 _If he's not stupid, then he's at least reckless and isn't thinking. And that can't happen. I'll have to recommend that the Rebellion sit him out for a few weeks. See how he takes punishment for stupidity. I don't like basically grounding him, but he can't go out on mission and try to die multiple times._

I take another step forward and start tapping on the order screen, selecting the 16 piece Kibi bucket with mashed potatoes, large gravy, the cole slaw and a small biscuits and honey. The screen retorts with my total and a small port open up so I can pay with my credit stick. Complying, I slip my credit stick into my pocket and look for either a place to sit or somewhere to stand without drawing atten—

 _Rex and Echo._

Raising my arm to wave, they both pop up out of a booth, smiling. "Sabine commed ahead, saying that you changed dinner plans. Figured we might cut you off here." Echo remarks.

"Is this okay with you guys? She's had a day and didn't want to cook." I defend her, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah of course." Rex waves me down before lowering his voice. "We figured the mission details might fire you guys up."

I let out a heavy breath and nod while Echo joins Rex on the other side of the booth, allowing me to sit. "Is it as bad as it reads?"

"Yup." Rex nods. "We were there when they got back, battered and smacked around. Luke just got out of bacta and is currently off duty."

 _Off duty?_

"What does that mean?" I ask. "I've never heard anybody put 'off duty' before."

"He's suspended and not permitted on any mission until Leia and the Council clear him. Nobody is happy with his…well, stunts." Rex explains, frowning. "In that way, he's just like his father."

Echo laughs. "The fact that he got away almost makes it ready to carve into permacrete. Nobody should be able to get out of that spot."

"Do you mean it in a bad way?" I glance at Rex.

"Yes and no. General Skywalker did a lot of things others wouldn't do. But he was willing to do what it took to get the job done, which wasn't something you could say about every Jedi. "

Echo adds, smiling "Not to say that he didn't make some brash moves."

"Like using a prototype stealth ship and purposely revealing itself to get supplies to refugees?" Rex laughs at Echo.

"Something like that." Echo smiles as he turns to me. " But he did it over time. By the end of the war, he knew exactly what he was doing. At the start, not so much."

 _I know where they're going with this._

I lean back in my seat as Rex takes the point from Echo. "We figured you'd be mad. But listen Ezra. Luke didn't do any of this with bad intentions. He's learning on the job."

"Like I did." I frown at him.

"Exactly. So try to cut him a break. He's doing something that you would have thought to do: Go to Tatooine and see if he can learn anything from where Master Kenobi lived. Books, notes, anything."

 _That's not a bad idea._

"Who gave him the idea?" I ask Rex and Echo.

Echo smiles. "Nobody did. He came up with it on his own. Leia didn't want him leaving, but he left anyway."

"SIXTEEN PIECE SPICY BUCKET!" Somebody yells, causing me to spin and get to my feet.

"Grab that food Ezra and let's get home. I'm starved." Rex asks me as I start toward the counter, stomach rumbling.

(A/N: Hi everyone! Good news, things have settled down a bit here in my happy new home. I wasn't going to write consistently or try to until I had most everything locked down and settled. And now I do. So a few housekeeping notes: I'm going to try and get back into a weekly, two times a week writing schedule. I'm working nights and don't have that down pat yet, so it might be once a week at first. Secondly, I'm editing the completed Flaming Rebellion from Chapter 1. Fixing the formatting, spell check, all that fun stuff. So if anyone gets notifications or something about a new FR chapter, it's not. Just a remastered version of the original document. Thanks for reading!)


	5. Rex Remembers The Clone Wars

Squirting a little more dish soap into the transpariglass container that we used for the potatoes, I flash it under the hot water that's running from the faucet, cut the water, grab my brush and begin scrubbing.

 _Dinner went well with Rex and Echo. Nothing to make it memorable, Sabine clearly needed the break. Ahsoka and Lux along with Prime, Aidan, Will and Tracy, Orir, Darcy and I think Katiey are coming later tonight if not tomorrow. Sof and her parents should be here soon._

In front of me, the container is clean and I give it one last run over with the water before setting it into the neat little dish that has spikey curves that you can set it on and drain the dish until its completely dry.

 _I never knew there were so many handy household applications and appliances. And it's sad that they kind of make me happy when I get to use them._

 _Happy._

I turn away from the sink, wiping my hands on my pants and let my legs lead me right to what my mind's been turning over since dinner.

" _Power amplifies everything inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. The strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion."_

 _Palpatine has had power so long, nearly thirty years at this point, not counting his time as just a Senator that he might as well know power all his life. Vader too, even as a Jedi. The Jedi could have ruled with the Force as an iron fist of sorts, but chose not to._

Vader's mask stares at me impassively, intimidating the air around it.

 _The face of evil, literally sits here in the office._

I've been trying not to make the connection to the second part of that quote. To me.

 _I'm thinking selfishly just by connecting me to the quote. But I never knew anything about power, or control, or anything. On Lothal, all I knew was survival which eventually could have lead me into the Empire's clutches. But I didn't, and I try to be a compassionate person that looks out to help instead of inside to be greedy._

The Force gives me a subtle tug, and my eyes drop to the desk, where my lightsaber sits right where I put it after I got home with dinner.

 _Yeah, in the end this is a civil war and wars are fought with blasters and soldiers. But really, it's about mindsets. Looking outward or inward? Craving power or setting it aside for others? Jedi or Sith? Republic or Separatist? Republic or Empire? Empire or Rebel Alliance?_

 _No, those are groups. The groups are supposed to embody a set of ideals. Those ideals are what this is really about. Not the color of your skin, the species you're born as or who your parents are. Ideals, values, that's what it is._

 _Mandalorians fight for honor. For family. For each other. For their shared history and hope for the future. Because they believe in their right in self determination, in deciding that only they really know what's best for them, and anybody that walks in doesn't know it as well as a true Mandalorian. And never will, unless they decide to enmesh themselves and become Mandalorian. Which I did and now am no longer an outsider. I've got pull I think, an can get any meeting with anyone I want, I just have to choose who I want to go thru, Mand'alor or Sabine's father._

"Everything okay dear?" Mrs. Wren's voice asks gently, jolting me out of my thoughts and causing me to jump and whip around. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. Just…thinking."

She fires right back "About?" while leaning int the doorway.

"A quote. Where's Sof and her dad?" I ask.

"Carid got hung up in Keldabe. Fenn asked him to take on a special project for Mandalore, the state not him personally." She frowns. "he won't be coming up for the weekend. Sophine is with Darcy, Will and Tracyn getting their area set up. The rest are setting up in the _Star_ like we planned. What quote?"

 _Huh, that's weird. He asked Mr. Wren for the state, as Mand'alor._

"I just read it a day or two ago, and I've tried untangling it."

Mrs. Wren frowns. "You know I love you, but this new scholarly side is new for you."

"I'm just trying to understand more. The more I know, the less will surprise me." I counter her.

 _Knowing all the pieces on the board tells me all the moves so I can counter effectively and win. And I can't lose this fight against the Empire._

"I know, which is why Sabine's said you've been reading a lot when you're not researching combat styles or lost Jedi knowledge. What's the quote?" Mrs. Wren fires at me, almost demanding an answer.

I sigh, then swallow. "Power amplifies everything inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. The strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion." Mrs. Wren responds by dropping her gaze to the floor.

"This is about Vader and power. You're trying to figure it out."

"And the part about compassion makes my mind jump to me, which it shouldn't."

"Why shouldn't' it?" She asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Because I don't have power, and I don't want it. I have a power, the Force, but I use it to help, which falls under compassion."

Sabine's mom smiles. "You're overthinking this. And you're forgetting the first line. Power amplifies everything. It's already inside, just waiting."

"How do you know the first line?" I ask, turning back to Vader's mask.

I hear mrs. Wren laugh to herself. "Because that same quote has made Carid think. It's a famous one, from a scientist years ago named Dr. Erskine. He was trying to dissect the mentality of a hero."

 _Wait, why would Mr. Wren be thinking of that quote?_

"Why's he thinking of that quote?"

"It's famous Ezra. And he was trying to figure me out. Why I went out and fought in the Clone Wars day after day as the planet seemingly caved in around me." She counters.

 _Whoa. She never talks like this. Directly referencing that time._

"There's been papers and books about that quote Ezra that could make more sense of it than you and I can."

I frown. "But I'm trying to figure out it's connection to now."

"Current events. You're going to find yourself on a pet's wheel." Her voice drips with cynicism. "Pour a drink. Talk to Sabine. Where is she, by the way?"

Turning back to her, I see Sof pop up out of the basement, looking exhausted. "She's asleep. She had a long day."

"Mommy, can I go to bed?" Sophie asks, waving to me while lingering near the stairs. "I'm really tired."

"Of course _ad'ika_. Good night." Her mother responds before Sof silently disappears out of sight.

 _(Hours later)_

"Nice trick." Ahsoka smirks as I spring off the tree while still upside down, create a bubble of air with the Force and use it to land heavily on my feet.

"Trick? You throw…" I hesitate as I count everyone around me. "Seven people at me simultaneously, I get out of it, and you call it a trick?!"

Will reaches down for Tracy's hand as he's halfway up a tree in the backyard as Orir pokes his head over the first rock outcropping then drops down wearily. "Yeah, trickery is the only way to get out of such an overwhelming situation. Or luck, and we both know there is no luck." Ahsoka explains as Darcy storms up.

 _There is only the Force, yeah yeah…_

"Can you not like…swing a tree branch the size of Sabine at me? Please?" She asks, a purple welt already growing on her face. "It's practice!"

"Sorry." I apologize as Lux approaches with some ice.

"You'll want to get this on it, or Ezra is going have to buy you some flowers."

Darcy responds "He already does. My bell is rung." Before shaking her head like she's trying to get water out of it.

"Remind me to say no next time you say 'Hey, let's help the Jedi learn to fight better.'" Tracy tells Will. "We're no match for him."

"You are, just in overwhelming numbers. Man on man, it's like the botching down at the Office of _Mand'alor_." Ahsoka counters Tracy.

Will brushes off his pants as Ahsoka perches on a rock. "Yeah, that was vicious."

"That part doesn't matter. What does matter, is Ramordia, and what they found about all those squads." Ahsoka raises her voice to speak over everyone.

"You did some research?" Darcy asks.

Lux nods. "And we've found more. It involves well, a lot of familiar elements."

"Saw Gerrera's Partisans. Specifically a splinter cell that calls themselves The Dreamers. They do things differently, thanks in large part to somebody who calls himself "The Mentor"

"Who is the Mentor?" Katiey asks.

Lux raises his hands. "I am."

"Lux found an in with them thru somebody he knew back on Onderon. His word started carrying a lot of weight really fast. But Ramordia found out too, and reported it to me." Ahsoka explains.

"Who already knew who The Mentor was." Lux laughs once, and Ahsoka smiles softly.

Ahsoka turns to Darcy. "I know they listen to you. Tell them they might want to tighten their protocols. They're getting sloppy. They're trying to get found out."

"I'll tell them." Darcy nods once.

"I think we need a break. A drink, maybe some lunch?" Lux injects, then looks to Ahsoka, who nods.

"Lunch would be good." She replies before Will leads everyone thru the clearing and into the backyard as shots ring out down the mountain.

 _Sof's shooting._

"I'm gonna see how Sof's doing." Darcy speaks up. Katiey, Aidan and Tracy all slip away before I follow their lead and walk down the gravel path as Sophie comes into view, Sabine, her mother, Prime, Rex and Echo all sitting behind her as Sof hits most, but not all of the targets.

She shoots and shoots for over a minute, bow kicking her shoulder again and again and again as her aim slowly gets worse before the timer clicks off and the targets disappear, causing Sof to hang her head. "I got tired."

"But you did better than last time." Rex smiles encouragingly as Echo reaches forward and lifts her chin.

"No shame in how you shot." Echo complements her, causing Sof to briefly smile before seeing Sabine and her frown returns.

"I'm getting a drink." Sof says in a monotone, clearly beat.

"How we doin?" Darcy says, upbeat.

 _She knows Sof needs it._

"Good. Sophine just got done. Did well, just wore out." Her mother summarizes the session succinctly.

Sof gulps down a cup of water and says "I was fine, \but the kicking of the bow got to me and I couldn't get it back."

"The guys and I call that losing the rope. When that happens, you just have to act on instinct." Prime tells everyone.

"You don't' want to lose the rope." Sabine nods beside Sophie, who is still chugging water.

Prime nods once. "Exactly." As Will sits beside him and examines Sof's score.

"297. Each shot is 6, that's about…" Will calculates.

"59.98 percent." Sabine says."

 _Max score is 650. 59% of 650 won't cut it._

Sophie loudly groans in response, then pours more water for herself. "I suck."

"You do not suck Sof, you just turned seven a couple of weeks ago." I tell her sternly. "Don't think like that."

 _You're Sophie, and being Sof, that means being positive._

"59 percent sucks." Sophie frowns, almost slamming her cup down and looking to Rex and Echo as the cup falls to the ground. "I'm sorry. Can I get a lower setting?"

Rex shakes his head. "No, you can't."

"But I can't go that fast!" Sof's voice pitches up in desperation. "Rex I'm tired!"

"Rest then, we're in no rush." Echo says soothingly. "Maybe after some food you'll be ready again."

Sof frowns angrily. "But I need to keep shooting!"

"No, you should rest if you're tired." Sabine gently says. "Shooting when you're tired is how bad habits get formed."

"And don't apologize for your best." Echo tells Sof. "It was obvious to everyone that you were getting tired. We knew what was happening. You oculd have missed every shot after you wore out, but did you?"

"No." Sof shakes her head. "I strung a couple of shots together."

"A few da…rn good combos." Prime smiles proudly, editing on the fly. "You did good Sof, that run's hard."

Sabine looks to Echo. "Was that the standard run during the Clone Wars? You ran Ezra and I thru that separately on Polis Massa."

 _That was that run? I started at about 60%, and that was when they were taking my lightsaber apart and I was shooting with a different blaster every day._

"One of them, yeah." Echo nods. "Basic Special Ops training against an overwhelming force."

"Zillo." Rex says quietly.

Sophie visibly perks up, cup now in her hand. "Can you tell me a story about the Clone Wars?"

"Sophie, no, he can't. You know better than to ask that. Rex and Echo had a hard time then. Don't prod." Her mother scolds her, causing Sof's chin to duck into her chest.

Rex raises his hand to assuage her. "No, I can. Better to hear it from us than a less…reliable source."

 _The Empire and the Holo._

 _She watches it every night._

"The war left it's scar on all of us." He begins, silencing everyone immediately. The moment stretches on as a pained look crosses his face and Echo nods. "A great Jedi once told me that the best leaders lead not by words, but by example. That's why we're always pushing you Sophie. You have to know what you might face. And if it's tougher than what you'll face, then we're doing our job. Setting the example."

"There are many ways to find victory. If it seems too easy, then it probably is, and a battle will come because of how easily the one you're in ended. I can give you example on top of example of this. Once, we dropped a bomb on a battlefield designed to fry every last damned clanker within three clicks. It worked, but woke up one of the oldest and most terrifying beasts in the galaxy. One problem, replaced by a bigger one because we took a shortcut."

Echo jumps in. "See the problem?" Sophie instantly nods, enraptured.

A sly smile slides onto Rex's face. "War is never dull. There is no such thing as a "routine mission". There's always a twist, a surprise that if you're not ready, will end your war right then and there unless you are lucky. I got lucky. Echo didn't."

"Yeah I did. You came back for me. A normal Captain wouldn't have done that." Echo counters.

"Because the Jedi I, we fought with was among the greatest of the Jedi, with a talented Padawan to boot." Rex smirks, causing me, along with everyone else to laugh. "I trusted them with my life more times than I can count. And I tried my best to keep that trust. The Jedi Commander I served with combined the Force _with_ his wits…which is why when we all joined together, our number one priority with Ezra was not to make him a Dooku clone, which has been thrown about, but a lot like General Skywalker. And it makes him a great warrior."

 _Anakin._

Rex pauses, hands pressed together with both index fingers touching his nose and thumb tucked into his beard as his eyes shine bright, remembering battles from years ago before he clears his throat. "The Clone Army, without a doubt was the greatest fighting force this galaxy has ever seen. The only reason the war ever happened, was the Seps got the drop on us, and had ten droids to our one clone. And we still won. That's why the end hurts so much. We were braver, we were _better_ , millions made the sacrifice so that we could win! The Jedi shed their peacekeeping mantle and became our Generals, and somehow…we lost."

"We didn't lose." Ahsoka suddenly says firmly, causing me to jump and turn and see her, Lux and the others above everyone, clearly listening along with us. "We were betrayed."

"By who?" Tracy asks.

"Those closest to us." Rex tells her as Mrs. Wren, Sabine, Echo and Lux all look away.

Sophie looks at her mother and sister, then her expression drops again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. Mommy was right."

"Don't…say sorry again Sophie. You should know so that it can't happen to you." Rex crouches down and puts his hand on her shoulder before giving her a loving smile. "Now let's go get some lunch, then come back out here and tackle this exercise again. Okay?"

"Okay!" Sof pipes up enthusiastically.

 _(Two Days later)_

"Keep your footwork…" I remind her as the duel continues and I stay on my perch made up of crates.

 _I've really become like Ahsoka and Kanan. The entire galaxy full of chairs, and I choose to sit on crates._

The Force suddenly tugs at me, and I glance to the doorway.

 _Sabine._

"Whoa, hey. Stop." I hop off the crates, not taking my eyes off her as she totes two enormous coolers. The duel stops and the room turns to Sabine, who is slowly navigating the doorway.

Sabine notices the sudden silence and glances up. "Don't stop for me right now. I was going to set up." She tells me with a smile.

 _She didn't say she was coming…or that she cooked. I can smell it._

" _Anade_ , I've spoken to you all about my wife, Sabine." (A/N: _Anade_ = Everyone)

Instantly, all my students bow in respect. " _Ar'an_." Sabine smiles proudly and accepts their greeting with a wave.

"You didn't say you were cooking." I ask her.

 _I didn't see her this morning. She was up late reading security briefs._

"Well I was cleaning out the freezer out back and saw that all this meat was going to go bad. So I thought: Why not cook for Ezra's last class of the day? And here I am." Sabine smiles at the class, who all start looking to each other giddily.

 _That meat's not going bad. We just got a whole bunch shipped in, and we always rotate the freezers so that the oldest stuff is at the front._

 _Something's up._

"Okay. Break off into teams of two or three. She did all the cooking, so I want everyone to go clean their hands, go to the kitchens, grab plates, silverware, glasses, SLOW…ly." I raise my voice as everyone begins talking The room instantly falls silent and looks to me for instruction. "And orderly. After that, you'll unpack the food, buffet style on one of the temporary tables, also in the kitchens. Then we'll serve ourselves." I tell the room. "Now what do we say?"

All my students say " _Vor entye_." In unison. (A/N: _Vor entye_ = Thank you)

" _Haili cetare_." Sabine smiles before they all file out of the room in an orderly fashion before Sabine walks right up to me. (A/N: eat your fill)

"I was going to unpack it." She smiles up at me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I seize the opportunity and quickly kiss her before frowning. "I know that meat's not bad. We talked about that before everyone came this weekend. What's wrong?"

Sabine's expression goes from happy, to crushed in a second, followed by her slipping a datapad into my hand. "That. It couldn't wait."

 _Okay…_

I flip the datapad's screen up to me, unlock it before a document pops up with only two headings:

' _The Mandalorian Knight: An Investigative report on the Jedi that saved Mandalore'_

' _Mission Report: Skywalker stalked, fights Bounty Hunter Fett to a draw on Tatooine'_

My breath freezes in my chest as the realization hits me.

 _Luke was on Tatooine for Master Kenobi. Fett found him. Fett is still working for Vader._

"He's getting closer." I sputter out, in shock.

"He's there. Luke escaped, but Fett got his name. He pulled this escape out of his butt. And I wish it was funny." Sabine weakly looks up at me and laughs.

"And you cooked all of our delivery, just to deliver this?" I ask.

Sabine frowns slightly. "I didn't see that you packed a lunch. I'm guessing you didn't eat."

"I forgot." I say defensively.

"I think that as their teacher, you have first in line to eat."

I shake my head as the first of my students come in toting dinner preparations. "No, that's you _karta._ "


	6. The Plan As Planned

Keeping my eyes closed, I keep visualizing thee Force around me, its blue tendrils gently looping around everything. The trees, rocks, leaves and grass—"

"EZRA! COMM!" Sabine yells, jolting me out of my meditative trance, causing me to whirl around in a fury before storming to my feet and ignoring the growing pounding in my head with each step.

"I thought I told you not to pull me out of meditation like that?" I bark at Sabine all the way down thru the house as I walk toward the office. "It hurts to pull out of it like that."

The throbbing in my head continues to crescendo as I walk into the office and see her pulling up a call. "Sorry, but it's—"

"Intercepted a Imperial coded file. It's a battle plan, here. Forrrrrr-or-or-or-or-or—BZZT!" Maddie suddenly leaps onto the holo, looking frantic.

Sabine slaps the comm. "Maddie! Stay with me here! Brute force, whatever you have to do! Stay on this line!"

"—trying to…think they're onto us! Sabiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—SCREEECHHHHH!"

"MADDIE!" Sabine yells at the holo.

"I don't care what you have to do, direct this to every outlet if you have to! If we're going to be besieged they've got the best shot of bailing us out!" Maddie orders somebody while continuing to look harried.

"Besieged?" Sabine repeats.

 _Not good._

"Finally, a decent connnnnn-ection. Oh damn, I cursed it." Maddie shakes her head.

"No, I've got you. You're compromised?" Sabine gets right to the point.

Maddie's connection flickers, then finally seems to stabilize, trading clarity and stability for all semblance of color, turning the image black and white. "Yes! We've got hours, but that's probably not enough."

"We'll come to you. Start grabbing everything small and mobile that you can. Wipe everything else." I tell her.

"Already on it. What do you think we should do? Try to blend into the city's crowds?" She fires right back.

Sabine shakes her head. "No, no way. If the Empire's onto you, that means they've done their homework. You've got to leave the planet. Ezra and I will head that way shortly."

"Do you have a secure connection?" A familiar voice ask before the one and only Lux Bonteri pops onto the screen. "Oh, hi."

"What are you doing on Ramordia?" I ask quickly.

"I said I'd deliver my message about being discreet in person." He replies, then looks off screen. "No Kyl, you won't be able to bring that. Everything has to be portable. We'll be able to get you new once you're out of this."

The fervor pitches even louder in the background as Sabine starts typing rapidly into the holo. "Okay, I'm messaging Prime. Darcy and the girls are tied up at work since it's a weekday, but they should be able to come. Scrambling the _Star_ too."

"If Ahsoka comms you, try to…ease her worries." Lux asks Sabine and I.

"We'll try, don't know how much it'll work." I smile wryly at Lux before somebody says something in the background.

"Scrambling a ship named the Executor from halfway across the inner rim…"

"Executor?!" Sabine and I both exclaim, causing Lux to whirl around.

"That report, I need it now."

"But—"

"It could be the difference in life…" Lux says dismissively to somebody then trails off.

 _Damn. Vader._

Sabine pulls up a third communication window and types out a message. "Just notified Leia of our tight spot. And told Ahsoka you can't call, but we're on our way."

"Thank you Sabine. I owe you."

"No, we're finally even." Sabine shakes her head.

"This channel shouldn't be open too much longer, otherwise the Empire will find you guys too." Maddie cuts the moment short.

I reply "They kind of already do. But we don't want to provoke them."

"Stay safe. You'll know when we're there." Sabine tells them, then kills the call and turns to me. "C'mon, we probably don't have much time."

 _(Six hours later)_

"And you're absolutely sure." Her mother says for what must be the tenth time.

Sabine nods. "Yes Mom, I'm sure."

"The intel seems iron clad. If anything, Lux appearing planet side probably was what tipped them off." Ahsoka frowns.

"Do you think we have to begin disguising ourselves in populated areas?" Kanan asks her.

Hera shakes her head. "No, then we're admitting we're doing something illegal if things fall apart even once, raising status questions."

"What's your plan for getting down there?" Ahsoka asks, casing Sabine's parents, Hera, Kanan and Ahsoka to go silent.

"Easy, MandalMotors took the Wingsuit design and improved both the storage and functionality of the suits. Overhead display with glasses or helmet, and now the suits can shrink to fit in your pocket." Sabine smiles.

"Wow." Is all Hera has to say as everyone else looks impressed.

"Not my department. I just get the benefit of approving the project and my hands on two. Just in case."

"Just in case turned into just in time." Zeb comments off screen."

Kanan turns to him. "How we doing?"

"Pypey and Rin did well today. Only a busted lip and no tantrums." Ahsoka laughs in response.

"Well at last there's improvement."

"FIVE MINUTES!" Tracy yells from up in the cockpit, as Will and Orir load up behind us.

"I hope you've used these before." Prime says to me darkly, pulling on his own suit.

I smile and nod, patting my own. "How do you think we got down to Mandalore the first time?"

"Helmet, helmet…oh, Ezra." Kal looks around ,holding my helmet. "Here you go…helmet…"

"By the cargo bay door!" Sabine says, typing out another message. "Leia saved most of their intel, the heads up really helped."

"But they can't scramble any help in?" Hera asks.

Sabine shakes her head. "She's trying, but didn't sound hopeful."

"Well too late now, you're about to go it alone." Ahsoka shakes her head.

"Planetside looks clear…aside from some rioting?" Rex says, unsure. "There's debris piles on fire I can see from some traffic cams."

 _Traffic cams? We can access those now?_

"No obvious blaster fire. Wait, hang on! Time stamp! That's three hours ago running as live!" Echo yaps.

"Three hours?! So we're blind!" Hera barks at Rex and Echo. "Why'd we trade credits for three hour old intel?!"

I poke my head out towards where the cockpit door is open. "How do things look?"

"Decent, some fires. No big battles from what I can see, and that Star Destroyer, you weren't lying. Wad that the one over Keldabe over a year ago?"

Will slides beside me. "Yup, home to the baddest man in the galaxy. Thanks for flying. You know I'm not worth a damn at it."

"Well, somebody has to take care of you guys." Tracy tells Will tenderly, causing me to duck away in embarrassment.

 _That's a private moment._

"—e careful. Especially since you're going in blind. Don't leave without your ride." Mrs. Wren tells Sabine and I, and I nod to show I've been paying attention the entire time.

Without warning, the _Star_ goes into a steep dive. "Two minutes." Will appears, looking flustered. "She wants us in the bay. Gonna be a tight fit."

"Gotta go." Sabine says, then slaps on her helmet and kills the call before leading me to the loading bay, where everyone else is suited up.

"And this'll work?" Orir looks to Sabine and I warily.

"Has twice before now!" Sabine answers, curbing her irritation at the question.

 _They don't want to do this, but we can't land on the planet obviously. The Executor will train its guns on us and rip us to pieces._

The bay door snuffs out the remainder of the conversation yet unspoken.

 _Same as last time. Light goes green, we have to—_

Red light flicks to green, dousing the bay in an eerie glow before Sabine grabs my shoulder and starts us forward.

 _They're not coming until we jump. So—_

Following Sabine, I take three hard steps and leap out of the _Star_ as the display in my glasses activates and our objective becomes obviously with a white circle around it and the building itself doused it red.

"Don't come down directly on top of it." Sabine reminds everyone. "Swoop in from around the block."

"How much room do we need to stop?" Orir asks, sounding terrified.

I laugh to myself before hitting my comm. "Not much. Fifteen feet."

Our comms then go silent as we glide in perfectly in from the north side, using a skyscraper to hide us from prying eyes before lowering ourselves into position. Easily, I spread my wings out further, land on my feet on the rooftop and take off my goggles.

 _That wasn't nearly as bad this time. The braking addition really makes it a lot more manageable._

Right away, everyone begins stripping off their suits, followed by them all shrinking down and being collected by Kal, who puts them in Orir's pack. I raise my hand with my index finger over my mouth reminding them to stay quiet as the sound of fighting drifts over to us.

 _Some fires, nothing too obvious as Tracy said. But I'm betting that the Empire is going with a home invasion style approach._

The Force rattles with everyone's lingering nerves from the flight before I try to soothe them all while letting my own out into the Force and opening the service door and walking into the building. Immediately, the setup is obvious.

 _Last time Maddie had to let us in, and the stairs were wooden all the way to her floor. These stairs are wooden as well, and I'm willing to bet that it's the same set. Straight shot right to them._

I wave everyone behind me and take the stairs two at a time, being attentive of my footing while counting the floor numbers.

 _Here._

Without a thought, I wave my hand and the physical locks click open with a satisfying sound before a massive explosion is unleashed outside, causing the building to rattle. I don't stop and push Maddie's door open before finding the barrel of a blaster pointed right at my head.

"Where were you just before my wedding?" Lux says shortly as behind me, everyone panics except for Sabine.

 _She gets it. I do too._

"Polis Massa, recovering from Imperial torture." I reply, and the blaster disappears, replaced by Lux Bonteri.

"You didn't say—" Will protests to Sabine.

I smile. "Had to make sure. How are we here?"

"Bad. Their first contact with violence, they all pretty much curled up and cried except for your girl and that Det kid. He left to help somebody that had half their apartment cave in on them." Lux frowns, leading us black thru the living room and to a full bedroom, where Maddie is crouched over a guy with long black hair.

"You're scaring everyone else here. Big strong guy like yourself breaking down like a child at the first resistance? That's not you and you know it." Maddie shakes her head.

Lux clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention before somebody sees the multiple people in armor and helmets and lets off a piercing scream. "AHHH!"

"SHHHHhhh…" SJB leaps over and covers her mouth and I wave for everyone to remain calm.

"You said we'd know they'd be coming." Maddie turns to Lux.

Lux shrugs. "Plan must have had to be different."

"The _Executor_ is here, just looming over the city. Had to WingSuit in. Went very well." Sabine gets right to the point. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes, but we have to go get Det." Maddie nods. "He's three blocks away."

"Must be a real Mother Diana type." Orir mumbles.

"Mother Teresa." Prime corrects him as Kyl suddenly finds his spine, looking furious.

"No, no. He's on his own. He left the building knowing that Ezra and everyone would be coming. He made his bed. He'll be fine."

Lux moves only his head. "No, he won't be. They have everyone's information, that's how they operate. Gather intel, then crush you. Leaving him behind isn't how we operate. Only if we have to. If we choose to leave him we condemn him to death. Sit down."

"Leaving him isn't an option." I back Lux. "Do you know where he is?"

"I've got an address." Maddie tells me as people start rising to their feet.

Sabine hits her comm. "Tracy, we've got everyone. Looks like we've got a delay built in. Their medical guy went to go help somebody. Ezra, Maddie and Lux are going to go get him while I help get everyone to you. Where can you land?"

A moment passes as the room seems to fill up with people getting to their feet before yells filter in thru the window.

 _Yeah, this would be enough to terrify anybody that's brand new to this. I don't blame them too much for failing to rise to the moment. Beside, they're support. Not front lines._

"I can land six blocks east of your position right now. But I wouldn't count on being able to stay there for long." Tracy answers Sabine.

Maddie perks up. "Det is two blocks west of here."

"We'd better get going then." I nod then look back to Prime, Will, Kal and Orir. "Escort everyone to the ship then comm. Hopefully we can just blend in." Will and Prime nod once, then Prime turns to the person nearest to him.

"It's okay, we're going to get you guys out of here."

"Didn't know Maddie knew any Mandalorians." The person comments.

"She could have at least brought that Jedi that came awhile back instead of this bearded guy…" Somebody behind him frowns.

Lux turns to Maddie as she's walking up, a small silver blaster in her hands. "Ready?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go before my nerves start getting to me."

"We should leave at once." Sabine pipes up. "Big group, with you three splitting off."

I nod in assent and stand back as the room is divided into the two groups, which isn't very hard. Lux, Maddie and I find ourselves sandwiched into the middle, directed by Sabine and Will, who are directing traffic. "Let's roll." Will says, helmet impassive before taking his blaster off safety with a small click and walking back thru the apartment. Silence is quickly replaced by the sound of Prime and Kal's heavy footsteps as the Ramordia cell follows silently.

 _It's really not that much, if you judge it on the surface. But if you factor in all the intel they've gathered in the year plus they've been with us, they've probably saved thousands evacuating places where "rogue" experiments ran wild, death squads marched and bombs fell. Brains beating brawn._

Sabine's helmet turns to me for a split second before falling into line behind the crowd before I slip off into the opposite direction of everyone else. A Force probe meant to check for Stormtroopers adds that Lux and Maddie have slipped away from the pack as well.

"Det, we're on our way. Stay right where you are. Maybe even hide yourself in the rubble." Maddie says quietly into an earpiece. Beside her, Lux watches with a blank look on his face.

 _One block._

"What am I looking for?" I ask as we approach the area Det is supposed to be.

Lux sighs. "I'm betting a scene just like Onderon. Bombed out building."

 _Yup._

Rounding the corner, I try to keep my hand off my lightsaber as one side of the street is untouched, but the other side is in ruins, small fires smoldering with rubble everywhere.

"Det, where exactly are you?" Maddie asks as I probe again and feel one person a third of the way down the block, next to a visible pile of people.

 _Uh oh._

Det stands up, brushing some of the debris off of him but most of it sticks to him along with the large blood stains on his shirt and pants. "Det!" Maddie yelps then sprints right past me.

I cringe then hang back with Lux as Maddie tackles Det and buries her head into his shoulder. "They're all gone. I helped a little, made it less painful. There's a couple of Imperial squads in all black with flame throwers and incendiary grenades." Det says tiredly before Maddie raises his arm to reveal a visible burn mark curling around his arm.

 _He needs to get some ice on that or it'll scar._

"I'm sorry. I know you did everything you could to help them." Maddie comforts him as he looks to Lux and I. I probe again before the rhythmic march of footsteps floats to us.

"We've got to go." Lux breaks up Det and Maddie's tender moment, looking apologetic.

Det's eyes are glazed over a he looks to me then nods. "Yeah, where though?"

"East of my place Det, come on." Maddie loops her arm around him.

"I'll scout ahead." Lux volunteers before jogging down the street we just came down.

Maddie and Det make their way to me before I wave them ahead. "I'll watch your back." They both nod, shell shock getting to them as they keep walking ahead.

 _Those Stormtroopers can come as close as they want. If they open fire, I'll take care of it. Besides, I don't think Maddie and Det can be rushed. They're cooked. Det I can't blame, Maddie…might not be built for this part._

 _Put her into an Imperial prison and she'd break within a week or two._

"Inferno Squadron, move on the target building, find the tenant and its owners. We know that Rebel Cell is there!" A male Imperial says over the loudspeaker, causing me to glance back and see deserted street before turning back while Det and Maddie keep moving like they didn't hear a thing.

' _My family are property owners here, whole building is ours. So I don't have neighbors. Easy choice.'_

 _As if this needed to get worse. Her whole family might as well have just died._

"C'mon, let's keep going guys." I motivate Det and Maddie before hitting my comm. "Lux?"

"All clear." He responds right away.

"Sabine?" I hit my comm again.

…

My heart rate spikes as I give her a moment to respond before I hit my comm again. "Sabine, comms."

"She's busy!" Will's voice pops into my ear. "Fett! Boba Fett! He just came out of nowh—AHH!" The comm is broken off by a violent screech and blaster fire.

Lux's voice fills the sudden void. "She's got him, we should probably pick up the pace though."

" _Star's_ fine!" Prime jumps in. "We'll get everyone to safety! Orir, cut him off!" More blaster fire follows.

"I'm okay! Just got the jump on me with…ahh! Something that sent me flying up into the air. Like a sonic weapon!" Sabine says, sounding hurt.

 _Dammit._

"Guys, sorry but we have to get going. The others are under attack. We have to go help." I try to kindly order Maddie and Det, who immediately start jogging—

"WHOA!" Det jumps, followed by a piercing Maddie scream.

"Gushh…Shhhh…"Darth Vader silently walks into view with a cloud of debris smoke behind him holding Lux by the back of his throat. "Where Bonteri is, Bridger usually follows. Don't you have a class to teach?" Vader asks darkly.

"It's a scheduled break time." I quip back at Vader as Maddie and Det back away from Vader and the grouping of soldiers behind him. "Don't have classes for a few weeks."

"Then I'll be dealing with your pestering for a few weeks then." Vader answers.

Lux smiles at the three of us then glances at Vader with his feet dangling off the ground like a child. "Do you like his Academy? Really nice place."

"Quiet, Bonteri." Vader orders, still advancing on us with his lightsaber on his belt.

"Maddie, Det, get out of here." I tell the two of them who are cowering in Vader's presense.

Det turns to me. "To where?"

"The ship!" I state the obvious. "Take a small detour! You know these streets!"

 _JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE UNDER ATTACK DOESN'T MEAN YOUR BRAINS CAN JUST BECOME MUSH!_

"Nobody is leaving this planet alive." Vader proclaims.

Lux makes a face. "Heard that before. Didn't happen."

"I can break your neck like a twig… _boy_." Vader tightens his grip on Lux's neck in a show of force. Lux squirms to get more air but stays put in Vader's steel grip.

"I'm not that much younger than you!"

"Then answer me this. You KNEW. YOU BOTH KNEW!" Vader roars, causing a pane of glass to shatter nearby.

 _Luke. Fett found him and got his full name._

I swallow a lump in my throat. "So you've figured it out?"

"That Padmé didn't die in childbirth, but _after_? After having a son, my son named Luke!" Vader rages blindly, marching at me while his men turn to each other in shock.

 _They weren't supposed to hear that. You guys are going to die just for hearing that. They won't make it off the planet._

"She did it to protect them!" Lux scowls at Vader.

"I'M HIS FATHER!" Vader's voice rises to an uncomfortable level as I glance to where Det and Maddie were, only for them to have completely disappeared.

Lux laughs. "Doesn't matter, Luke's father died, you said it yourself before butchering that girl and cutting Ezra's hand off!"

"One more word and—" Vader threatens Lux, lifting him up so that they're nose to nose.

"And what?" Lux cuts him off, then slaps something onto Vader and tossing a silver circle in the direction of Vader's troops.

Vader lets out an anguished yell before somebody yells "GREN—BA—BOOOOMM!" and a fireball incinerates everything behind Vader. Meanwhile, Vader's dropped Lux who takes off.

"We gotta go!" He yells at me and waves for me to follow. Instinctively I activate my lightsaber as Vader is down on both knees slowly rotating his shoulders.

 _That must have been some sort of electrical pulse. How'd he have that ready without Vader noticing?!_

My mind races as I back down an alleyway and Vader heavily gets to his feet in a slow fashion before inhumanly rotating his shoulders up and thru what would be his shoulder sockets before a terrible mechanical groaning reaches my ears.

 _His shoulders must now be gone too. His rotator cuff would have been shredded even trying that move, let alone following thru with it._

Vader silently marches after me, activating his lightsaber and heavily drops a cleave at me which I block and spin away from, only for Vader to try and catch me off guard with a haymaker with his left hand.

 _Catch!_

In a flash, my hand's up, protecting my face from the punch that would have caved my whole head in, as Vader pauses to glance in disbelief at me before pushing forward. Digging in, I try to stop but only get pushed back.

"YAH!" Lux yells before I see a blur fly at my face. I drop and duck away before hearing metal collide with metal in a satisfying "Doing!" Blindly, I stumble away and see Lux on the follow-through with a large pipe.

"GO!" Lux drops the pipe and takes off at a run. Changing a glance at Vader, I see that his mask has been partially dented and that he's back on his knees before taking off after—

 _FETT!_

"Lux!" I yell a word of warning, causing Lux to turn to me blankly just before Fett lands, grabs him and drives him into the side of the nearest building. As fast as I can, I leap towards Fett, only for him to raise his wrist and send me flying backwards uncontrollably.

 _That must be the sonic weapon Sabine mentioned! OWW!_

I dig my elbows into my feet as I see that I landed face down in a pile of industrial scraps before Fett yells and Prime flies in from nowhere, grabs Fett by the helmet and heaves him in my direction.

"Ezra?!" Prime asks before Sabine appears behind him and Lux.

"Is everybody on the _Star_?" I ask before reactivating my lightsaber and Vader helps Fett to his feet.

Sabine nods. "Yeah! But—"

"Tell them to take off! We'll find a ride." I order before Fett takes a shot at Prime, who dives away.

"Okay!" Sabine answers sarcastically before a missile lands at Fett's feet and blows up in his face before the flames and snuffed out with a wave of Vader's hand.

Snapping my wrist, I grab a metal container and whip it at Fett, who activates his jetpack and evades it but falls victim to a well-placed shot by Prime. "Where are the others?!" I yell at him.

"On the ship! We had a funny feeling something was gonna happen!" Prime answers as Vader drops down a chop on me, which I quickly block and duck under his riposte.

"Something always happens!" Sabine yells in irritation before Vader raises his hands and Sabine just disappears in a flash, before a hole appears in the brick building she was standing in front of.

"SABINE!" I yell in fear as I feel my heart start pounding again. Without thinking, I grit my teeth and attempt to separate Vader's head from his body, which he ducks under.

"Gushh…Shhhh…yes, use your anger. It fuels your _power!_ "

 _No, Sabine wouldn't want that!_

I turn my lightsaber in my hand then meet Vader halfway with a slice, answer with a cut that he blocks with a robotically stiff stance, allowing me an opening to slip right under his arms and slam my left hand right into the area right under his chest panel where his stomach should be. "Uhhh!" Vader grunts out a breath before I go flying again wildly and collide with another building.

 _That stupid sonic weapon!_

Prime lets out a yell and leaps up to sucker punch Fett, who blocks it with one arm, then kicks out at Prime. Prime harmlessly blocks the kick with both hands before firing off a lightning fast body blow that glances off his armor.

 _SABINE!_

Sabine leaps off a container and right onto Fett's shoulders, wraps her legs around him and starts savagely wailing on him with her elbows. One after another after another, punctuating each blow with a yell.

 _MOVE!_

The Force almost physically moves me as a crimson blur drops down at me as I dive away and see that Vader has recovered from the body blow before he spins and tries punching Lux, who nearly bends himself in half but manages to avoid the punch, which busts thru the building behind him.

 _JEEZ! I know that you can overclock a cybernetic arm, but that's ridiculous!_

Lux throws another silver circular disk which sticks to Vader's cybernetic arm and causes it to visibly go dead, his lightsaber to fall to the ground and for sparks to shower he and Lux before Lux punches Vader's mask. Vader plants his left hand in Lux's chest and shoves him away as I leap up to capitalize on Vader's vulnerability.

"WHACK!"—"EZRA!" I hear a yell vefore I go tumbling back down to the ground. "Huh?" I blurt out and glance around, only to see Sabine on top of me and that we've collided and fallen next to Vader just as he rotates his arm, making that terrible noise again before Sabine screams and yanks on my arm.

 _Lightsaber!_

I pull it into my right hand as Vader grabs his and marches after me. "We're clear behind! Work to your left!" Sabine helpfully informs me. "We'll work on a ride!"

"Okay!" I say as Vader and I time up a pair of slice which we neutralize. I spin around and work a jab at his throat that Vader isn't anticipating, instead another heavy chop at my body. Unfortunately, he jostles my jab, causing it to harmlessly miss and allowing him an opening at me.

"Nope!" I pop off and pivot hard on my right heel, causing his chop to find the street. "What's the matter with you? You used to be a lot harder to fight!" I ask honestly.

 _I've had an easy answer for pretty much everything so far._

"I have stayed the same, you, Bridger are the one closing the gap. Not enough though." Vader grounds out before slicing at me on a horizontal plane like one of my students back at _Ori'bavar._ I slide around it, then use the opening to rise up, catch Vader in the chest with a knee then use his momentum against him, violently clearing the air around me with my armor clad forearm.

"WH-CRACK!"

"RIDE'S HERE!" I hear Prime yell before I probe and feel Lux and Sabine down the alleyway and near the street as two enormous Force signatures jump out at me. Quickly, I clamber away from Vader as Prime cover me with heavy shots, allowing me to overtake him quickly as run into the street.

 _THE FALCON?!_

"Go!" I tell Prime, who appears at my side as the Millennium Falcon hovers above the street, loading ramp invitingly remaining down.

"EZRA! PRIME!" Sabine yells. Without another thought, I grab Prime and throw him at the ramp, causing him to panic and wrangle around desperately before he catches the ramp with one hand and is grabbed by Chewie. I whip back around and see that Vader still hasn't emerged from the alley.

 _Gotta go then._

I jump up to meet the Falcon, only to jump way too high and for me to bounce off the top of the bay ceiling, causing Leia to scream in terror.

"My gods ezra, where'd you come—"

"BA—BOOM!"

"I got him! Let's get out of here!" Luke yells at Han, before the Falcon jolts, making its escape.


	7. Checkers and Chess

"Chewie, set a course for the outer rim, no place in particular." Han's voice floats to my ears as Leia, Lux, Sabine, Prime and I all walk into the galley of the Falcon, where Maddie and Det are already seated with blankets around their shoulders and drinks in their hands.

 _They're both goners. You can see it in their eyes. Lights are barely on, and nobody's home._

"Threepio, grab some more blankets and drinks. And maybe the med kit." Leia orders a gold plated droid that's talking to Det.

"Yes, Princess." The droid responds as I feel Sabine glance at me then turn to Leia.

"Those were your father's droids." Sabine tells Leia. "We got tangled up with them and minister Tua way back when."

Leia lets out an airy laugh. "Oh yes, he told me about that story. Had R2 record everything about you guys. You did more than prove yourselves, which allowed him to have Ahsoka get into contact."

"There's always a plan." I smile as Luke appears out in the hallway. "Luke."

"Hey, how's it feel to be the ones needing the saving for a change?" He smiles right away, getting Prime, Sabine, Leia and I to laugh before the cockpit door slides open, showing Han still talking to Chewie.

"—don't care, just out of the system and in the direction of the outer rim. I'd prefer not the closest point either, but just get us in that direction." Han tells Chewie, who roars in understanding.

I turn back to Luke, who is wearing a half-cocked grin. "Not too bad. How'd you hear enough to come get us?"

"Ahsoka asked us to be in the area in case something went awry." Leia explains.

"Or if you, you know, pass up your only known ticket out of town to fight a black cyborg." Han shrugs flippantly. "I mean, who's gonna pass that up?"

Prime smiles thinly. "Can't leave people behind. We're not the empire. We don't choose to sacrifice people. That's their choice, and theirs alone."

"Well said." Leia smiles at Prime, who suddenly looked mollified.

I'm taken out of the conversation by Luke grabbing my hand. "What? When'd you…" He sputters, then looks up at me as my left hand is showing thru my glove, which is still in one piece, but in tatters.

 _I must have ripped it fighting Vader._

"Fighting Vader. Which is why they, everyone, doesn't want you anywhere near him." Lux steps in as C-3P0 starts handing out drinks. In the background, Han and Luke exchange worried looks.

"You're forgiven for your little excursion against him last time. But please don't seek him out." Sabine asks very kindly.

"It's not that we sought him out. He just…shows up." Luke admits defensively.

Han adds "What is he? I'm not big into your Jedi/Force mumbo jumbo but I'm…starting to think I'm wrong."

"He's a Sith Lord. I use the light side of the Force, the ultimate power and energy in the galaxy, and Vader uses the Dark Side." I tell Han, then turn to Luke. "I need to send you some basic reading materials. Even if you're not training right now, you do need them in case something happens. The knowledge can't be lost."

"Here you go sir." 3PO hands me a bottle of water, causing me to smile.

"Thanks."

"Where are we going?" Det asks in a flat monotone, causing Maddie to turn and move for the first time since we got up here.

"The Outer Rim. Imperial Patrols aren't nearly as tight out there." Leia smiles. "And while we're here thank you, for your work for the Rebellion. It's been invaluable."

"You're welcome. Do you have a spare cabin. I think I'm going to take a nap." Maddie asks.

Luke instantly smiles. "Absolutely, follow me."

* * *

 _Ughhh…What time is it?_

Klutzily I roll over, cold sheets waking me up as I squint farther than normal and look at the clock, only for 8:10 to blink back at me.

 _Awesome, I slept in for nearly two hours. I needed the sleep I know, I'm getting tired of falling asleep reading after dinner._

I force myself to sit up in the middle of the bed, where I was previously taking up most of the whole thing, rub my eyes then swing my legs over the side and walk towards the living room.

 _Okay, all I really have to do today is make sure that my office at work gets cleaned, and that I make it for tomorrow. There's some smaller stuff, like I need to do some stuff around the house for Sabine before winter comes and a trip into Keldabe and maybe even into Sundari. I haven't been back there in months._

The caf machine splutters as it dispenses my caf, my favorite cup under it as a couple of others stare at me in the sink as well as my glass from dinner last night.

 _Other than that, I haven't torn the place apart. Living room and office are just like I found them. I cleaned Sof's basement yesterday and found her secret food stash that Sabine and I had suspected she'd been building._

 _When our stash of fruit snacks, chips and uj'alayi slowly disappears only when she's here then the trash ends up getting outside with the rest of it, it's sort of obvious. And it's not really a big deal, but I don't want bugs to get down there because if they do, they're going to be murder to try and get rid of._

 _So I did the thing that made the most sense to me, I gathered all of Sof's snacks up, put them in a little baggie, filled the rest up with more snacks and put it back in Sof's hiding spot before plugging in her little personal conservator and filling that too with juice and other drinks._

Walking back to the bedroom with my caf, I slip into decent pants and a jacket before I slip out to the speeder and drive right into town, encountering little traffic, the usual lazy midweek vibe hanging over everything. Parking in my normal spot, I hope out and walk right to my door.

 _Where…there's two posters pinned to the door. That's weird._

My eyes glaze over the posters for a moment before I recognize them.

 _They're the posters the Rebellion had us come for and deal with that photoshoot. They've really helped recruitment and morale. I ended up posing for two or three, knowing that like everyone else, my face would be blotted or blacked out, my clothes changed so that my identity is impossible to work out._

 _But it's my face leering down at me, large staff in my hands in an awkward way with the slogan "Join The Fight" spelled out in block letters, with the words "The Fight" lined out. Handwritten under the slogan in Aurebesh is "The Mandalorian Knight: Traitor to the Galactic Empire". Beside my poster, Aidan and Prime smile at the camera, the rest of their bodies cartoonized with "Remember Alderaan" as the catch line._

This isn't good. Having my face on the poster, plus Prime and Aidan's means somebody's figured it out. And they're definitely Imperial, thanks to the graffiti on mine.

 _Plus the stupid part about the Mandalorian Knight._

Grudgingly, I rip the posters off my office door, walk inside but don't sit down, instead typing out a message on my comm.

" _Is the offer for dinner still on the table?"_

* * *

(11 Hours Later)

"Thanks." I say politely, adding a smile on at the end before sliding the door shut behind me and turning to see Prime, Will, Kal and Orir lingering.

"So where's Sabine again?" Prime asks, extending an _a'sokai_ to me.

I shrug, taking the drink. "Don't know, some hidey hole the Rebellion's got. She left three days ago, and I don't really know when she'll be back."

"From the little write-up Sabine made and her notes, it really seems like things have crumpled." Prime comments.

"Yup." I say morosely, then sip the bottle and wince at the bitter taste.

 _Sabine left with pretty much no notice, just saying that I wouldn't really be able to help, so she was going alone, and that she really needed this to work because the Ramordia cell is OUR cell, having it break up would look bad to Leia, High Command and the General Council._

 _Ramordia…well's crumpled isn't a bad word. Disintegrating isn't bad either. Dramatic is the word that jumps out to me. Kyl trying to betray Maddie and Det, who he apparently hates and wants Maddie to run away with him. Maddie's just been running the cell and tried to not get involved in anything with anybody she works with in the cell. The whole thing boils down to what we knew in the beginning: A pacifist cell that doesn't want to get involved in the dirty work. Only the dirty work got thrown in to them, and they haven't handled it and have basically gone to pieces._

A few moments pass, then Will starts off the patio and down a path towards a walled garden type area. Mindlessly, I follow, trying to keep my mind clear and empty.

"It cracks me up that it took all this just for you to come out and have dinner." Orir says simply, shattering the nervous silence and causing all of us to laugh before they smile at each other and me.

"Well…" I shrug, having no real defense. "I didn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't have. Everyone's happily moved things around to accommodate you." Kal waves my concern down.

I fiddle with my drink then turn to Prime. "How's Aiden holding up?"

"Fine. The girls are at their place trying to decrypt the scan of that poster." He responds.

"Leia said that your identities would be safe. Multiple times." Kal frowns.

Will replies. "It's the Princess, what do you expect, things not quite working out how she thinks. This is the real world."

"I don't think this is her." Prime jumps in, silencing them both. "I think it's Vader playing his games again."

"Why play his games now?" I throw out there. "The rumblings have slowly just built up."

 _I don't think it's Vader. I'm more inclined to think it's Boba Fett but really I don't have a clue. When Sabine comes back I'll have her look into it._

 _This whole Mandalorian Knight business is heating up. The underground HoloNet, or the 'pirate' Net as Sabine loves calling it, has slowly become more and more fascinated with my identity thru this guy. It's happened before, like with the people on Lothal trying to dig into it and Darcy noticing way back when. But this is different, with it now being tied right to Mandalore, my exploits with the Fifth Brother and the fight against the Empire.._

 _Sabine's been getting a little bit of a kick out of it, but has had to jigger some of our intelligence assets, depleted after the whole Ramordia incident to keep an eye on all the Mandalorian Knight talk, even having to launch a small misinformation campaign against me because there's rumors of a uprising on planets I've never even heard of that I'm rumored to be involved in. Instead, I'm totally going after a secret Jedi library out in Wild Space._

"Well, he was there on Ramordia. He's clearly still hunting for ways to hurt you on the margins. Limit your power."

"Limit our spheres of influence." Will adds before Orir gives him a dubious look, causing Will to go a little pink. "It's political theory."

"Oh not with more of this spaced garbage." Orir rolls his eyes.

Kal looks to Orir. "It's not garbage, but it's not concrete either."

"Well I like concrete. Certain. Here and now. And what we know, is that somebody has Ezra, Aiden and Prime's faces pinned to the right posters. Vader would make a bit of sense." Orir elaborates.

 _Lana'd know some of this stuff. She liked the theory, the gamesmanship of things. The steps it took to get things done, nuts and bolts. She'd really be useful to have around right now, not to mention she'd be here right now._

I fiddle with my arm as Kal and Orir debate Will on the specifics before Prime's voice brings me back to the conversation. "We should just keep things on the low for now, let Sabine cook on the 'Net and step from there."

"Speaking of cooking, food's ready. Hey Ezra." Aiden's voice sounds out from behind us, and I turn to see her smiling at us.

"Hi." I wave meekly as Prime leads the way back to the house.

(A/N: Wanted to get this out before the Season premiere, and tonight The Last Jedi trailer. But then again, I wanted this out weeks ago, but work swallowed my September. Does anyone know who to talk to so that I can get that entire month back? Because I lost it and I want a refund. I want my month back.)


	8. Gwen Stacy

"—the line fell back and the front line became a line of innocent citizens, both of ours and of the Empire's!" Prime keeps getting worked up. The man who is the outlet of his ire nods, helmet on hip and one hand on his belt buckle.

"It fell back because of—"

"I do not CARE! Why you fell back! You fell back! You are aware of basic front line tactics! Corral, contain, compress!" Prime continues in a fury.

 _I can't watch this anymore._

I glance over at Will, who has a massive blaster burn on the chest plate of his armor and is sitting down, but otherwise seems unharmed while talking to a couple of medics. A single footstep causes me to whip around and see a single Stormtrooper standing there, rifle in hand.

Reflexively, I pull his rifle right out of his hands, causing him to go stock still as blasters are leveled at his head and chest before he is slammed to the ground. "GET ON THE GROUND!" The Stormtrooper doesn't even struggle as he's pummeled briefly, then cuffs are slapped on him and he's roughly tossed aside.

"I…came to surrender. To him. As a whole, we messed up today." He says, helmet thrown off in the scuffle. In a fury, I take two steps and pull him right to me.

"Whose order was it for you to fire?"

"I—"

"WHO?" I roar in his face.

 _I don't care that my helmet is gone. This guy will never talk. Ever. I should skewer him where he stands just for being here._

The Stormtrooper, a younger looking man visibly gulps. "Nobody sir. Some individuals began firing after you took the pirates' ship down, then, well, you know."

 _Coward._

"You're damn right we know. Gutless trash." Kal sneers at the man, walking even to me. "A third party attacks, together, we, you and I, we take it down. And then you open fire on _US_." I ground out. The Stormtrooper averts his eyes.

"I have no excuse or reason sir. It was wrong."

"People DIED because of your actions today. People who should have LIVED!" I rage at him. "And you have nothing for me?! NOTHING?!"

The Stormtrooper keeps his gaze on the ground. "No sir. I came to surrender to you because I was in the neighborhood. I didn't want to cause any trouble."

"Useless. Get out of my face." I spit before raising my hand and shoving the man with the Force about ten feet directly into a brick wall, causing him to be knocked unconscious.

 _Absolutely useless._

Silence lingers for a moment before Prime launches right back into his tirade. "You're damn lucky I don't hand you over to him! The Jedi! Or the stupid _Mandalorian Knight!_ I should!" The warrior mouths something that doesn't reach my ears before Prime's voices hits another level. "I DO NOT CARE! NO! Don't care! YOU DIE! In that situation you DIE! You don't have men that desert and disappear into the city! We'll run back the damned footage and have them strung up for accessory to murder and desertion! You see him!" Prime points to me. "He's faced the scariest things the galaxy can throw at him! He doesn't run! He doesn't back down! Doesn't even think about it! He digs in and fights! Same goes for me! You MAINTAIN your gap integrity! You hold your line! You drive back the enemy! The seams of the flank do NOT unravel! And if you fall, then you fall HONORABLY!" Prime screams in the man's face, his own face getting red before Orir puts his hand on Prime's chest plate and starts pushing him away.

"That's enough."

"Like hell that's enough!" Prime snaps at Orir. "He deserves ALL of this! And more!"

The Mandalorian keeps his gaze on Prime as he is restrained by Orir before being approached by a pair of Mandalorian Guard who are also holding restraints. Methodically, he sets his helmet down, then his blaster, then his wrist attachments, followed by a blaster and knife all in a precise way, then allows himself to be cuffed.

 _At least he's handling himself admirably. Faced the music, took accountability, everything._

The feeling of my wrist comm vibrating for my attention snaps my attention downward, only to see Sabine's number. "Hey, what's up. You get Sof yet?"

A moment passes before a tiny "Uhm, this is…Sof." answers.

 _Sof? Why does she have Sabine's comm? She's probably occupied or something. Still though, her comm is on her wrist, which is attached to her armor. Weird._

"Hey. Where's Sabine? Did she come get you like I said she would?" I say as Will and Orir both give me curious looks.

"Uhm, uhhh…I…uhh. Uhm…" She mumbles, voice shaking, causing Will to pop to his feet.

I let a breath out thru my nose. "Hey. Slow down. Take a breath for me. Okay?" I say firmly, knowing that she'll listen. After a second, I hear her take a deep, but shaky breath.

"What's wrong?" Orir asks me quietly.

I shrug, then look back to my comm. "Okay Sof. Whatever it is, it's okay. What's going on? Can I talk to Sabine?"

"No, uhm, uhh, I've got her armor and…"

"Got her armor?!" Prime asks aloud before getting shushed by Kal and swatted by Orir.

"I…" Sof continues shakily before letting out a sob. "At a Medcenter—"

 _What_

"—Mommy and Daddy are with the medics and stuffffff…buuttt…I need you Ezra…"

My mind and body are completely blank from shock as Prime slaps my comm. "Sof, it's gonna be okay. What Medcenter?" He asks firmly.

"—you said you'd always be here and Sabine's in the surgery room and I'm scaredddd…." Sof bawls, evident thru the audio and before she lets out a loud sob.

 _Surgery?_

"Sophie! Hey!" Prime attempts to get thru to her.

 _Sabine's never really been hurt. She always finds a way to get out of it. Surgery?_

"—I need you Ezra….PLEASEEE…" She sobs and hiccups. "Pleeeeaseeee…"

"Sof! I need the name of the Medcenter so we know where to go!"

Numbly, I sit in shock, not even registering the conversation before I'm pulled to my feet.

"C'mon, we're going." Kal tells me as Will guides me down the street. At a certain point I'm in a speeder, flying down the road before somebody tells me "She's going to be fine Ezra."

 _Sabine?_

* * *

 _(Three Hours Earlier)_

Sabine smiles before sipping her caf contently. "We should start every day like this. It makes me want to move back into the city."

"It is a nice day. Do you think it's just nice because it's brunch and a treat?" I turn to Sabine, in her armor, holing her helmet while smiling.

"Nah." She shakes her head. "It's just nice. Wake up, have a cup of caf, take Sof to school, eat a great meal at our own pace, together for once, then seeing Mom and Dad—"

"And _Mand'alor_." I remind her.

 _And the topic is horrible._

"Yeah, but it's just a beautiful day! She smiles once again as we arrive at the Office of Mand'alor and I grab the door for her then follow her into the left as she hits the correct sequence of buttons."

 _It's gonna be okay. I'm sure the girls will have good news. Surely._

The lift opens and Sabine does the small talk thing with his receptionist before I open an ornate door, revealing a heavily decorated office full of Mandalorian artifacts along with Sabine's parents, and _Mand'alor_."

 _So this is Mand'alor's office…wow. Lives up to the billing. I'm sure everything in here is priceless._

"I think I might have to ask for a tour later." I joke, getting everyone to laugh briefly, before the mood turns sour.

"So…what's it look like?" Sabine asks.

 _Mand'alor_ simply turns his holo on. "Miss Ridley? You tell me. What are things like on the ground?"

Darcy's image pops onto the holo, looking slightly bedraggled. "Bad. Not good. The intel we picked up and were delivered is accurate."

 _No…_

"Millions in holding camps, being ripped from their homes. The families are being interrogated, no lawyers or anyone present. Then they're roughly separated and often times, from what we've noticed, is that they're spread across the planet."

"There's not that many places for them to go." I counter. "Capitol City is the only major city."

"Intel says that they're erecting rudimentary towns, field pens really. They can't support half the number of people they're holding. Food's not adequate, spoiling. Shelter is lacking. The work's backbreaking, it's…it's bad." Darcy finishes solemnly.

 _I have to go. I don't really have a choice._

"Why now?" Mr. Wren asks. "Why Lothal now?"

Darcy shrugs. "Nobody that we've talked to knows. They all think it's because of Ezra, that he did something to hurt the Empire, that he's the one that blew up the Death Star, and that's why the Empire is exerting such a savage blow here, but it's not, obviously. We've got a theory about their intentions though."

"Which are?" _Mand'alor_ prompts her.

"It's a trap for Ezra. As Maddie's intel indicated, the planet isn't openly under martial law and is allowing people to visit. But if you come, you almost have to stay. You're trapped because if the Empire finds your ship, you're processed like a citizen. They want Ezra, and are torturing the whole planet to try and draw him out." Darcy reports, then looks right at me. "Ezra, you can't come."

Mrs. Wren sets down a cup and asks "What are the people on the ground saying? If they break, then the situation is hopeless."

"Defiant. I've spoken to a couple of the people who are waging the guerilla war, and they say they'll hold out forever. They won't break. And the soldiers, citizens, they all keep saying that they don't want Ezra to come. Everyone seems to know their plan, and are trying to fight back until they can beat the Empire."

"He won't come then." _Mand'alor_ proclaims, causing me to stalk away towards the water cooler.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Watch them burn the whole planet to the ground?!" I ask, not meaning to raise my voice but do it anyway.

"We'll get some warriors and aid in. I promise you that. But if the Empire wants you, and they know you're here, they're sitting and waiting." _Mand'alor_ counters.

 _Ridiculous. I see the point, but I'm fiddling while another planet, MY home planet is destroyed. Like Alderaan._

Angrily, I snatch up a cup and fill it with water. "—you okay?"

"Yes, we're alright. The extraction plan has been synched with a rebel offensive here, giving us a distraction to get off the planet."

"How's everyone holding up?" Mrs. Wren asks as Sabine approaches and gives me a tentative smile. I return it while focusing on Darcy's response.

"Shaken, but alright. We weren't expecting this level of brutality and depravity, to be honest. From the stories we heard, everything was normal. Then a fleet of Star Destroyers appeared in the sky and just took everything over, starting this horrible process."

Pouring a cup of water for Sabine, I then hand it to her and examine everyone else's drinks.

 _Occupy my hands until I can go attempt to meditate and train this off. The meditation especially, even though I'm not good at it. Memories keep flitting in and out when I'm supposed to be sifting thru them to confront the loss and the pain._

"Sir." A voice pops out from nowhere, causing all of us to turn and for anger to flash on _Mand'alor_ 's face.

"This better be good _verd_."

"An unknown force is attacking the bank." The soldier tells him.

"Bank?" Sabine asks as _Mand'alor_ whips to his holo and begins typing.

"Which bank?"

"The heaviest asset bank." The soldier tells _Mand'alor._ "Right here in the city,"

 _Mand'alor_ scowls at his holo as security footage starts appearing, showing fighting that's broken out somewhere. "How do they know which bank to hit? Get ten battalions scrambled. NOW! Ezra?"

"Yes?"

"Which bank? What's the big deal?" Sabine asks.

Her father rolls his eyes. " _Adika_ , the reconstruction process! Maul's entire cash flow. The cash flow for a large portion of that project!"

 _The bankroll for Sundari._

"I hate to ask, but that bank cannot be taken. I don't really care what you have to do. Whoever it is, they can't get away." _Mand'alor_ tells me, prompting me to hit my comm.

"Prime."

"—how'd they even find out which bank?" Sabine asks. "That has to be almost a state secret."

"Very few people have to know, which reduces our potential leaks—"

"Ezra? Tell me you've heard about this." Prime's voice comes thru on my comm.

I turn away from everyone and slip in my earpiece. "Barely. What's going on?"

"Somebody's attacking the main Sundari reconstruction depository. It's a temporary setup in one of Mandalore's oldest banks! Built to be impenetrable except by a bomb squad. Well you'll never guess what they're doing?"

"If they need a bomb squad then the fighting is a distraction?" I put the pieces together.

"Exactly. Even worse, they're carving a path thru the city. And they're not Imperial."

I blurt out "Not Imperial?" which causes Sabine's head to whip back to me before I gesture to her that we've got to go.

"Yes! The first casualty was Imperial I think, then a warrior. So it's the old 'us and Vader versus Maul' agreement."

 _The enemy of my enemy._

"Are you headed there?" I ask as Sabine and I hop into the lift and Sabine slaps the button for the ground floor.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd come too. There's crazy reports of a ten foot tall cyborg man that's causing most of the issues."

Sabine turns to me, helmet now on. "Cyborg?"

 _She must have synced comms._

"I'm just telling you—" Prime's voice is cut off by a screech and footsteps. "—know!"

"Fair enough, where are we going?" I ask as the lift opens and Sabine stalks out.

"Center of the city, right near where you fought Shark Bait and Sof goes to school."

 _Uh oh?_

Sabine's body goes rigid for a split second. "Prime?"

"They're being prepped for evac right now. Will's in charge of it. 97th and Candrion. That's where I'll be."

"97th and Candrion." I tell the driver of the speeder as we hop right in one that's just sitting, waiting.

The driver jumps, clearly startled. "Oh no, no way." The man says in an accent. "There's fighting down there and—hey! Ahh!" He yells as Sabine clambers right over the divider between the front and back seat, then just kicks the man out.

"Thanks!" She yells sarcastically, then we pull away rapidly into the bright, cool day.

"It'll be okay Sabine." I say supportively off the top of my head.

Sabine instead scowls. "Why here? Why now? The Empire has to be behind this right? Mandalore getting back on its feet, is starting to succeed, and boom! Attempted grand theft bank vault! I'm so calling bantha osik on _this one_."

"Agree, but then why is the Empire fighting back?"

"Fresh meat. The Empire doesn't care about pawns, which is all Stormtroopers are."

 _This is all such a Vader move. Such a Vader move._

"This is a textbook Vader move."

Sabine nods. "Get a third party to act on your behalf, wiping your hands clean of the whole thing." Before I clamber over the divider as well and take in the sight of what looks to be a small fire a few clicks away here in the city. "The thing I don't get, is that Vader knows where we are."

"Yeah, why not just come get me? I don't want that obviously—"

Sabine cuts me off as she starts descending towards a square with shops and a crowd of people. "No I get it. You're right. What's preventing him from just marching to our front door?"

"I don't know, but I think that's a question for another day." I say, and Sabine nods while roughly parking on the street and allowing us both to hop out and walk toward Prime, who is talking to a battalion of Stormtroopers.

"What do we have Prime?" Sabine asks him, causing everyone to look over and for the Stormtroopers to reflexively recoil at the sight of me, then double take.

"He wasn't kidding about bringing in a big gun—" one of the mutters.

"It's that same kid that's been on those posters for years? We wanted him before I was even recruited!" Another says.

 _He's a shiny._

I roll my eyes and scan the Stormtroopers. "I can't do anything unless I have a helmet. My face cannot get out."

"I'm having the timestamps for the time wiped." Prime says helpfully over Sabine's shoulder.

"Like hell, we know who he is now." A Stormtrooper in a yellow pauldron comments.

"Fun fact, the big players already know who I am. It is a secret despite that, so whatever you do won't change anything. You, soldier. What, sorry, what specialty are you?" I ask a Stormtrooper who is not wearing the standard Stormtrooper helmet, instead rocking the Scout Trooper's helmet.

"Bomb defusing and scouting." He says right away.

I respond. "I'm sorry, I need your helmet."

 _I want it, and I need it. I've always liked the look, despite its connections._

A brief wave of nostalgia washes over me, causing a mental image of my tower with my stash of Imperial and gang helmets before I blink and see that a kid is standing in front of me, extending his helmet to me. "Thank you." I smile, then extend my hand to shake his. He hesitates, but returns the gesture before I snap on the helmet, drastically dropping my peripheral vision.

 _I'll just have to rely on the Force._

" _shuk'orok Mando'ad_." Sabine turns to me, then stalks off. I smile to myself, then move to follow.

 _Those Stormtroopers probably can't speak Mando'a, and don't know what Sabine said. It's a location, but for all they know, she just said ten things. I know when I first heard Sabine speak it, it sounded too fast to comprehend, and like they were saying fifty things when all her mom was saying was really 'the grass is green' or something basic._

 _What we're really doing is supervising the school evacuation._

"You can peel off and make sure Sof's safe." I comment as she, Prime and I all rush down the street.

"I—" Sabine starts to reply, before a stray shot flies right over Prime's head, sending him scattering and for me to whirl around and spot a firefight just down the road.

 _Stray shot, not meant for us._

Prime grabs me and shoves me. "No big deal, we've got to go!"

"Is the evac now?!" I ask him.

"And I've got everybody in position, but that Cyborg, or whatever it is, we can't get eyewitness accounts on it because it's carving everyone in its path!"

"Can't talk if you're dead!" Sabine quips, checking the side street before we all cross into the depths of this alley.

 _I vaguely recall that Sof's school is surrounded on three sides by large walls. If I had to bet, we're sneaking in._

"Everyone's here?"

"That I could grab! Tracyn and the guys! I took initiative, unless you want to do something—" Prime's cut off by the sound of a large explosion, causing us all to look back behind us, then back to each other. "Unless you want to do something else!"

I shake my head. "No, you take point. Whatever this is, I'll take it. You focus on the kids."

"Ezra! Help!" Sabine pulls my attention her way, causing me to notice that we're staring at a fifteen foot high wall.

 _Okay, Easy._

I quickly grab both Sabine and Prime, lift them to the top of the wall, set them down, then follow their lead by taking two hard steps, leaping, planting on the wall then propelling myself up and over then cushion my landing with the Force.

"Bad news." Will instantly says, kids everywhere behind him. "We're stuck. Whoever these guys are, this is their goal. Use the school as their hostage to get out of the bank."

"Like he—no way it is." Sabine censors herself on the fly before she starts scanning the crowd.

"WHAM!"

My head snaps to the primary building, where the enormous sound came from. "Will?" Prime demands.

"We barricaded the doors with whatever we could. It'll hold, but not against the rumors of—" "WHAM!" "Whatever that is!" Will points to the door, which is rattling from the force of the impact.

I quickly wave all the kids back toward the furthest wall. "We have to keep them away from these kids. All of 'em."

"Absolutely." Prime nods before simultaneously the sound of wood splintering forces me to whip around, then explosions ring out everywhere.

 _WHAT IN THE—_

Will takes one step forward, and I spot a huge figure, clad entirely in metal and wielding a massive projectile launcher before I'm hit with a massive heat wave and Will is just gone. "WILL!" I hear Kex scream before he rushes towards the back wall as the entire scene is drowned in screaming.

Sabine leaps to protect Kex and I get a split second view of Sophie with both arms around him and pulling him back before I grab a…

 _Who are these guys?_

Whoever it is, has no uniform. But whoever it is, I grab them with the Force and clear that area. An instant later, a flare is shot right in the massive cyborg's face, then spreads and obscures its vision. Whatever it is lets out a shout, then flattens a portion of the wall, thrashing around before Orir appears from nowhere, pulls back on his chain guy and unleashes some shot that at first seems to suck the air away from everyone, then use that air to fire the Cyborg back and out of the picture.

"Will! Wake up! C'mon say something!" I hear Kex cry out as Kal starts evacuating kids out thru a newly created hole in the wall we leapt over. "We're gonna get him!"

"Kex! You can't! C'mon!" Sophie tries to heave him away and towards the rush of kids running, escorted by instructors.

"YOU CAN!" Prime yells at Sabine, who fired the rocket off her back at the Cyborg, who is just getting to his feet, hitting directly and burying him. My eyes instantly flash to a line of the enemy who are taking stock of Sabine.

 _Nope!_

Sensing that they're about the break off, then take their shot. I instinctively raise both hands and release violent Force Pushes which catch them just as they split off, sending them off their feet and careening into the nearest walls, which collapse and inter them.

 _OKAY! Now for you big boy!_

I leap forward, right into the mess Sabine made with her one-shot rocket, just in time for the mountain of metal to get up and see me. Just as I make a move to grab him, he grabs me left arm by the wrist and just throws me wildly, forcing me out of the way and into a wall. A vague grunt of frustration reaches my ears as I push myself to my feet just in time for my heart to stop. The sound of a heavy shot sounds out, followed by a tiny body falling reaches me just before I begin to process it.

 _Sniper. Oh my…_

Sabine lets out a feral yell, then fires her jetpack up faster than I've ever seen her before, and just plows right into the window where the shot came from as Tracyn rushes to where the tiny body has fallen.  
"I got him, you take that!" I yell at Prime, then take out my fury on the ground, pushing off the ground as hard as I can and begin pursuing the cyborg.

 _You are NOT getting away from me! Somebody is paying for that! They're ALL paying for that!_

The Cyborg takes two steps away from me, ten feet from the open street and sizes me up before growling out. "What are you, witch?"

 _It saw me use the Force, which nobody does anymore. Might be his first encounter with a Force sensitive._

I smirk at him while settling into a modified Djem So stance, suing tow hand on my lightsaber instead of one. "I'm your problem now."

"Aye look! We drew out that Mandalorian Knight guy!" Somebody says, in a uncivilized, backspace kind of way before everyone's heads turn while holding bags.

 _Of golden bars, silver bars, credit chips all loaded up to the max…smash and grab. These guys are pirates. They're not a fighting force. They just want the money._

"Pirates." I mutter aloud while hitting my comm with the Force.

"Pirates?" Prime responds, sounding frustrated.

Sabine's comm crackles before she chimes in "Uncivilized, honorless fighters that take— potshots at children—SCREETCH! Makes sense!"

"Give up, you're surrounded. You won't get off the planet."

 _I know between Mand'alor, the Prime Minister, the Imperial Governor, this ship isn't getting off the planet. They'll shoot it down._

The Cyborg takes a step forward, causing the street to shake slightly. "No." before shots ring out, a Mandalorian falls and the wall shifts then moves to fall, sending everyone running towards the street. I join them and send a pirate flying before the world jumps from the impact of the wall collapsing and blaster bolts start flying everywhere.

Before he can react, I slip under the Cyborg's arms, grab the plate on his back, dig in with both my feet and the Force and rip the plate right off him, causing an agonized scream before he wheels around blindly and tries clotheslining me. I duck under, then away and spot a loose blaster pistol lying on the street.

 _Mine! I need more firepower!_

I leap toward the pistol just as a pirate does. I beat him to it, then barely slices his leg enough for it to him to react and for me to scoop the pistol up and use my lightsaber arm to steady my shot before I let out three short shots, dropping three pirates while blocking a stream of bolts in chorus. The scene is then taken over by Orir's gravity gun, which sends a group of pirates careening wildly and for Prime to fly in.

 _LEFT!_

I whip around and block the pirates shot, flip hands and fell him with the blaster, then advance on another group as they frantically try to get away from me futility before I put them to the ground with the same deft slices meant to maim and not kill.

 _I don't want to kill anyone. These monsters should have to answer for this. And that means they stay alive._

Prime meanwhile, blocks a punch from a pirate and kicks him into a speeder, sending the pirate flipping out of sight as he ducks around another blow by the Cyborg and tries to knife it in the neck. The Cyborg blocks, then again savagely swings at Prime, who again gets away just as I arrive and push the Cyborg right into a shop, causing all the innocent civilians to scream in terror.

"The—" Prime starts before precise shots fell the only two pirates around us and a battalion rushes up to us.

"They're making their escape on a ship coming right over top of us!" A Stormtrooper tells us before I reach out with the Force and confirm his statement.

 _I need to get the high ground._

"I'll stop them, but need to get up. Get a battalion to lock that damned Cyborg down! Full one, not some half assed job! He'll get away if you don't commit." I say while looking for a way to get higher.

 _Fire escape. Perfect._

Without further thought, I run parallel to the building, propel myself about thirty feet up, grab onto the side of the metal staircase, then hop up and over and climb the remaining twenty feet before I look over the side.

 _For external engines, two on each side of the ship in the rear. If I knock those two nearest to me, I can force this ship down. The angle is going to have to be a really tight one, almost inverse to the engine itself otherwise it won't get thru._

I take several steps back as the ship continues its attempt to flee then take off at a dead sprint towards the edge of the building, then push down with my hands and use the Force to send me about thirty feet in the air as the ship is feet from me. A quick tremor in the Force warns me that I've scared the pilot, followed by the ship wobbling as I activate my lightsaber near the right side of my head.

In one smooth action, I carve out a 'C' motion with my arm, releasing my lightsaber about halfway down then push it on with my left hand as I hang in the air. Time briefly seems to slow down as I will my lightsaber forward, thru the engine backwash that hits me, and into the first engine. Instantly a fireball appears, followed by my lightsaber as it cuts thru the second engine and time returns to its normal speed, followed by a terrible shearing sound and roars from below me.

 _YESSSSSS! IT'S DOWN!_

Quickly, I glance down and see that I'm falling uncontrollably and respond by pushing down with the Force, creating a bubble of air to catch me. The bubble does indeed slow me enough, and I land heavily, but safely, causing the ground around me to crater and crack.

I ignore the incredulity around me and march forward, only stopping to pull my lightsaber out of a pile of debris as the ship crashes violently in the street, carving one side of the ruined craft into the street.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Prime yells in my ear. "That was incredible!"

 _Sorry Prime, but shut up._

I allow the fire in my veins to take over and march toward the ship, barely registering the destruction in advance of grabbing the landing bay door and ripping it off.

The sight of pirates strewn everywhere greets me immediately, some not moving, some shifting around, most if not all bleeding. In my fury, I grab the nearest one. "WHY? Why'd you do this?" I demand of him.

The pirate coughs one, then blood appears at the edge of his mouth. "No reason, for the fun of it."

 _For the…fun of it?_

"What?" I ask in disbelief.

"You too of course." The pirate says, eyes becoming unfocused. "But the money, the insult the Mandalorians would feel, the challenge. But really, we were bored."

 _BORED?_

My mind is blank for a second, then rage comes to my aid, forcing me to see red. "YOU DID THIS BECAUSE YOU WERE BORED AND WANTED FUN?! This is FUN to you?!"

 _PEOPLE HAVE DIED HERE TODAY!_

"Yeah, I mean, we saw an opportunity. Easy pickings. Maybe not so easy though." The pirate rambles on before I feel something impact my elbow and I turn my sleeve to see—

 _A blaster bolt hole._

Without moving my head, I look back and see a Stormtrooper holding his blaster before his fear level spikes.

 _He missed. It was only a glancing blow._

I grab my lightsaber and throw it right at him, catching him in the neck just as he starts moving and causes him to seize up. "Traitor!"

 _We were working together!_

The clicking sounds of multiple blasters reach my ears before I glance up and see that I'm surrounded.

 _Fools._

"FIRE!"

* * *

 _(Ten Hours Later – Seven Hours post HoloCall)_

Sophie's leg bounces on my leg as she sits in my lap here in the waiting room. Around us, Prime and Kal are slouched in their chairs, asleep. Cups from our impromptu dinner, although nobody was hungry and we only ate because we knew we needed to are surrounding all of us.

 _Will's at another medcenter, Tracyn is somewhere, I don't know. Orir is with Mand'alor, investigating the pirates motives and means to pull the heist off._

"It's okay." I tell Sof gently.

 _I can feel Sabine's Force Signature, but it's erratic and weaker than normal. Hers is the only one I can really get a good read on because there's so many emotions in this hospital. It's clouding the Force so that I can't really see with it._

Sof continues to rock in my lap and tries not to cry like she has been off and on all night.

 _I don't know what happened; just that Tracyn found her somewhere. Sabine was then rushed here and prepped for surgery as her parents were contacted. I asked to see them or to speak to someone and was denied because Sabine's file doesn't show her as being married._

 _So me saying repeatedly that I'm her husband and want to see her now has gotten me nowhere. Because only family can know her status._

 _C'mon Sabine…_

I don't know how much time passes as Sophie anxiously bounces around in my lap, unable to sit still but not wanting to leave my side before a door opens.

"Hey." I leap up, catching Sof and turning her in time for her to collapse into her parents arms, who both look like they've been stressing out for hours.

 _And Mrs. Wren looks like she's been crying._

"Mr. Bridger? A word?" A man in a white coat calls my name, and I turn to follow him thru a door. "My name is Sunihai Granti, I'm the head Surgeon for Head and Neck injuries for the Imperial Medical and Reconstruction Center here on Mandalore."

 _Head and Neck?_

"Head and Neck? What's going on? I don't know anything." I ask bluntly.

The man takes a measured breath, then continues. "Your wife, Mrs. Sabine Wren sustained two cervical fractures to her neck today in the battle against the pirates.

 _Cervical. Neck._

"She broke her neck?" I gasp out as a pit forms in my stomach and ices over.

 _If she broke her neck, they…that's as bad as it gets. Obviously, your spinal cord is there, and that controls all motor function, bodily control…_

"Well actually it was a…" The man starts speaking in medical babble before I tune out.

 _She flew off to go put down that sniper who took that little kid who went to Sof's school down. She didn't know him, but that school is in pieces now._

"—used the latest techniques to stiffen her body, maintain her blood pressure and allowing the swelling to occur before acting quickly to minimize any and all damage. She was never in danger of dying, and, dare I say it, came out better than could have been expected."

I swallow the huge lump in my throat as we walk down a sterile hallway in the intensive care area. "So how bad are we talking?"

"We won't know until she wakes up I'm afraid. We've done almost all we can for now. Right now, we have her comfortable and will do everything we can to keep her where she is until she wakes up. Then we'll proceed from there. I'm very sorry."

"But she's alive." I say numbly.

 _I can't believe this is happening. This is unbelievable._

"Yes." The man nods. "She's right thru there sir. I am around if you have any questions. A RN will be by shortly with the file detailing exactly what happened."

I nod, then turn to the door on my right which is closed an unmarked.

 _1017._

Pushing it open, I take a step inside, then jump at the sound of the door closing, followed by a hearty beeping sound.

 _The heart monitor._

I continue to walk in before my knees nearly go out from under me and I lean into the wall.

 _Sabine…_

 _She's sitting upright in her bed, completely immobilized by various wires and harnesses keeping her where she is. There's a cast on her right arm and her neck is completely covered by a neck brace._

The lump in my throat triples in size as I creep toward her bedside, grab the nearest chair and sit down before taking her hand.

 _Her hands are freezing cold. She's super pale too._

Taking her hand, I slip it into both of mine and bring the back of her hand to my lips. "C'mon Sabine. _Karta_ , wake up."


	9. Turn Turn Turn

The slightly cold, inflexible plastoid material that makes up this chair rubs up against me again, forcing me to block the sensation out and keep focusing on the figures on the datapad in front of me.

 _5.5 million Imperial troops deployed to Capitol City alone, which has a rough population of 7 million. Another estimated 3 million to Jhothal and 4 million to Kothal, even though it is the smallest "major population center" on the planet. They resisted the most, and got the hammer dropped on them._

 _Four million Stormtroopers for 1.75 million residents. All reportedly being shepherded into the work camps near any suspected Kyber Crystal location, where they're digging mines by hand. Those who don't start mining are being shipped to the one useful moon Lothal has, Circia. The Empire wants its unrefined and poor grade iron ore, which I assume they'll turn into Durasteel for some project. The other moon is being ignored for now, but they probably have plans for it._

For everyone off the planet, the Empire is blasting out news of the complete occupation of the planet, claiming that I'm there and that my presence gives them more than enough right. Which everyone here on Mandalore knows is a lie, they just want to hurt me, get at me and draw me out.

 _Well that's not going to work._

I glance up at the darkened room around me, with Sophie curled up on the bed that the nurses wheeled into Sabine's room here in the ICU. The machines around Sabine beep, whirr and hum, becoming background noise that I'm use to by now.

 _It's been four days now since Sabine, well…_

 _She basically got strung up thirty feet in the air._

 _Mand'alor_ got the footage the day after it happened. Sabine was pursuing the sniper that took out Sophie's schoolmate, firing off targeted shots in an attempt to box the sniper in.

 _She didn't want to just kill him; I think she thought that doing that would be too kind of a fate. So she wanted him alive._

As she was limiting the sniper's actions, he jumped off a rooftop and activated a hidden jetpack. Sabine didn't notice this and just thought he jumped, so she jumped after him without activating her jetpack. The sniper was lying in wait with some sort of grappling hook or something and missed wrapping her up, instead wrapping it around her neck. Then the bastard yanked hard, causing Sabine to make a terrible noise that was audible even on the security holo footage before grabbing at her neck, trying to free herself before her head snapped back and she was pulled down toward the ground.

From there, her body did some twitchy thing, the doctors say that is a involuntary response to getting your central nervous system and neck area majorly messed up, then her head found a pipe, making a terribly hollow sound, concussing her before she hit a fire escape like a weight and fell the rest of the way, landing on her arm and breaking it.

The sniper seemed to be in shock himself, then ran away to escape. Minutes later, Tracy found her face down in the alley and called for a medic, who transported Sabine to this Medcenter, and the rest is history. Hera and Kanan flew in yesterday from a new rebel base and saw Sabine even though there isn't much to see really.

 _Her body's responding well, and her brain activity has picked up so they think that she's okay mentally. The real question is how bad her injury to her spinal column is, how bad the vertebrae were broken, on and on. We can't find that out until she wakes up. Only she can tell us if her arms and legs are okay, what she remembers and how her body feels._

Turns out you can't test for everything.

" _NYEHHHH!" "CRACK!" "BONG…BONG…WHACK—THUD!"_

I shake my head to get the sounds out of my head before sipping my cup of water, shift in this uncomfortable seat and look back to my datapad.

" _Don't worry about work. You do whatever you need to and make sure Sabine is okay. I don't care if you don't teach for a month, two months, six months, a year. It doesn't matter if you and Sabine's situation isn't right." – Seeker_

It's crazy that we're even talking about me teaching in Tokrush right now at all. Mandalore is back to where it was when Sabine and I jumped out of the _Ghost_ , with nighttime skirmishes, increased security presence and fear at a near record high. In a cruel, odd twist of fate, it's actually the Imperials that are terrified, since they've essentially gone from the hunters to the hunted. Everyone on the planet it seems like has flipped to anti-Imperial, even the pacifists that refused to fight last time. There's been some vicious murders of Imperial officials that aren't even being pursued right now due to public pressure since the Empire fired on me and Mandalore's own. Vandalism is rampant, riots are planet wide and the construction in Sundari has completely stopped.

 _(Flashback)_

"Sir, he's here." One of _Mand'alor_ 's subordinates tells him curtly, then ducks his head.

"I told you not to allow him access to the lift!" _Mand'alor_ snaps at the souldier, then looks to me sheepishly.

I smile weakly. "It's fine."

 _I know what he wants. According to media reports, the Empire is "strongly considering" replacing him and running another election. He's trying to save his job._

"How's he getting up here then if he isn't using the lifts?" _Mand'alor_ asks as Prime glances at me.

"He's walking up the stairs himself."

 _Desperation._

Prime laughs haughtily before _Mand'alor's_ office door opens. Pointedly, I keep my eyes on the holo in front of me, with the sights of Lothal burning and the new troop numbers than just came in from Darcy.

 _They're ridiculous. Overkill. Magnitudes of millions more than needed._

"—told you that your fate was out of my hands. Talk to your Imperial friends." _Mand'alor_ tells Prime Minister Bralor coldly.

"Yes, you said that, but you're not the only one that has the power to help me." Bralor says before I feel his eyes fall on me.

"No." I say coldly, raising my voice only slightly.

"No? But—wait, what's that he's looking at? That's not Mandalore." Bralor asks _Mand'alor_.

 _Idiot._

Prime answers "That's none of your concern Bralor."

"Do you really not know? I ask, silencing everyone as my throat twinges from lack of use and dryness.

"…no?" Bralor replies submissively.

"It's Lothal. My home planet. It's currently under the Empire's boot. But I'm sure a well informed man such as yourself knows that already Prime Minister." I roll my eyes sarcastically at the wall then turn to see Bralor, clearly near the end of his rope.

Bralor shakes his head violently. "No, I didn't know that. You're not from the planet? Then why'd—?"

"—I help?" I cut him off. "Because people were in danger Prime Minister. Simple. That's enough reason to fight. It just so happens that I bailed you out in the process." Bralor blanches at the idea of me bailing him out, but before he can counter, I continue. "Oh don't say I didn't bail you out. I did big time. Losing all those resources to those pirates would have been a crippling blow. Not to mention the planet's morale. A city full of Mandalorians and barracks of Imperial Stormtroopers, beaten by a ragtag, organized group of pirates. PIRATES!"

I pause for a moment and let the moment breathe as everyone waits for me to continue. "The fact that it got as far as it did was shameful, but makes sense due to their resources. What happened was the best possible outcome, _until_ your men started shooting!"

"They should not have begun shooting. I launched a investigation as to who gave the order to begin shooting at those civilians, yourself and every Mandalorian soldier in sight all across the city. To a man, they all say that one person shot, nobody knows who it is."

"Oh give me a break." Prime pops off, looking disgusted.

Bralor looks fearful but turns to Prime, who is leaning on the wall. "It's true! They all knew what they were getting into and the situation is less than desirab—"

 _WHAT?!_

"EXCUSE ME?!" I roar and take a couple of steps toward Bralor, who instantly begins backpedaling. "Excuse me? They all knew what they were getting into? Those innocent bystanders? The warriors who responded to a call about a grand theft bank vault, found a ten foot cyborg clad in silver Durasteel armor and a Jedi who managed to down him, then their ship?! NO! That answer simply isn't good enough! It never will be! The point of fighting is to _prevent_ people from dying Prime Minister! One death is too much, that's why I fight! Here, back home, everywhere! If I can save even one person, anybody, that's more than enough for me! Nobody, should ever go into a battle where their leaders expect them to die and for them to be okay with that as an option. That's unacceptable!"

 _Mand'alor_ injects simply. "That's not my approach."

"I know that!" I reassure him. "But Bralor's not! You're perfectly okay with sending men to die in a meat grinder while you fiddle and the city burns around you!" I turn back to the Prime Minister. "You've done nothing to heal the divisions here. Or anywhere. All you've done is stand for platitudes, looking for easy political wins and photo ops. I've watched the news _sir_. I pay attention to what's going on here. You never wanted real progress, and now here we are! People are dead that don't need to be, the damage is already done, the planet is in flames again! Chaos and fear everywhere! And it's YOUR fault Prime Minister! The blood is on your hands, and the Empire wants to wipe its hands of you. You were a pawn the entire time. This is called accountability."

"Accountability? What do you know about accountability?" Bralor pops off. Prime instantly leaps across the room, grabs Bralor by the collar and throws him into a display which shatters underneath him.

"You wanna know how he knows accountability? His home burns! It's burned before, and now it is again! He's seen friends and family turn their back on him, leave him to die. He's seen friends stand and fight for him, then die. Our friends! His knowledge and accountability is above reproach!" Prime spits at Bralor, standing over him.

"And you don't understand the game that's even being played." I piggyback prime's point. "This entire operation, here and on Lothal, was probably Vader's work. This is what he does, he manipulates people and situations until he gets what he wants. And he wants me dead. The numbers he has to kill doesn't matter to him, as long as he gets to me."

Bralor suddenly shakes his head. "No, Vader doesn't have that level of power. Not on Lothal. That's from higher up. The Emperor did the same thing to the natives of Naboo, and slaughtered them in the aftermath of the Clone War. They went after the Kaminoans, the Wookies, anyone who resisted!"

 _I don't believe it. Not even for a second. This is Vader thru and thru. His fingerprints are all over it._

"You shouldn't have come anyway, it shows you didn't listen to me the last time we spoke." I shake my head. The Force instantly pulses with _Mand'alor_ and Prime's reactions as Bralor tenses up. " _Mand'alor_ sir, what'd I say?"

"You sa—" Bralor begins before I raise my hand, grab his neck with my hand using the Force and hear him gag. "—ACK!"

"I didn't ask you. Be quiet." I order Bralor, then look back to _Mand'alor._

 _Mand'alor_ bites his lip. "I forget the wording exactly, but it was essentially that the next time he asked for your help, you wouldn't come."

 _Pretty much._

"His actions with Tarkin and Cody made sure that I won't help. And I did anyway, to prevent those pirates from winning. And now here you are, begging me to help save your job." I gesture to the room bitterly. "Get out."

Prime roughly grabs Bralor and starts dragging him out as _Mand'alor_ looks mildly impressed.

 _(End Flashback)_

Imperial propaganda is still attacking any fact of Lothalian culture it can find, from our ideals, to our hair. Our way of life, occupations, tendency to sit out of conflicts and prefer to create instead of destroy, it's all being drug thru the mud of Imperial Propaganda.

 _It's literally everything the Empire stands for, we stand against._

"Gzzzhhh…" Sophie snores loudly, then rolls over to face the other side of the rollout bed while bringing her blanket with her. I smile to myself, then bend down, scoop up my water and take a sip.

"Hey."

 _Sabine._

Instantly, I freeze up, still bent down to grab my cup of water then slowly look back, only for me to see Sabine, her head still in its cumbersome neck brace turned in my direction, while her eyes betray her.

 _Confused._

"Hey." I smile, then laugh out of sheer relief. "You're awake."

"Yeah…where am I?"

"Medcenter." I tell her. "What do you remember?"

Sabine bites her lip, then slowly and painfully it looks like turns away from me. "Not much, just that I was chasing the pirate that shot that kid. I…went after him, and now I'm here." She looks back to me, still trying to mask her pain. "Ezra, what happened to me? Why'm I in this…thing? What happened to my arm?"

"You got hit with a cheap shot. Do you not remember a grappling hook?" I ask her, trying to prompt her brain.

 _She did just wake up after being asleep for four days straight._

"No." She moves to shake her head, but is stopped by her brace. "Did I get hit on the head?"

"Neck." I answer her, which instantly causes her eyes to go wide.

"Neck?"

"Couple of broken vertebrae, spinal and nerve damage. You've been asleep for a couple of days after they put you back together." I nod, then try to swallow away the lump in my throat.

Sabine instantly looks terrified. "How bad is it? I…" She stops, then her entire face clenches before I see the fingers on her right hand move, but her arm not really respond. At the end of her bed, the blanket is displaced by her moving her toes. "My arms and legs are like weights. I'm trying to move them but they're not helping me out."

"But you can feel them?" I ask.

Sabine nods. "Yeah, just not moving. I…do they think I'm like…paralyzed?" She squeaks out.

"No, nobody knows. They can't tell until you tell them what you feel. At least that's what they've told everyone."

"Everyone?" She pipes up.

"Your mom and Dad, Sof, Hera, Kanan and me. Ahsoka, Lux, Rex and Echo wanted to come, but decided against drawing more attention to Mandalore. I think they'll be coming soon though."

"Oh jeez…" She mutters, then drops her head onto her brace and her pillow before I see her eyes start shimmering. "This is bad, isn't it?"

"Well, it's gotten better every day since you came here. At first I was afraid you'd never wake up." I confess, then try and laugh to lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry…" She whines, sounding on the edge of tears.

I wave her down. "Not your fault. The footage cleared you. The sneaky son of a bitch fooled you, then pulled a nasty trick and just kind of left you. It's not your fault."

"But I'm here, aren't I?" She asks, then I see her hands move like she's trying to gesture. "Who found me?"

"Tracy. Her quick thinking did a lot, at least that's what everyone here's been saying."

Sabine frowns once more but stays in her static position. "What time is it?"

"I don't knowwww…" I confess, then hit my comm. "Four in the morning."

"Ugh, Ezra, you shouldn't be up. You should be home."

"No, no way." I shake my head strongly. "I wasn't having you wake up alone, or without me."

Sabine seems to accept that before Sophie groans over on her bed, causing Sabine's expression to snap into concern. "Sof?"

"Wouldn't leave. She slept at home the first night, but then asked a nurse if there was a bed she could have so she could be here when you woke up. And since her school's in pieces…now she's here." I explain it to Sabine, who blinks rapidly, then makes a muffled sniffling noise and bows her head.

 _Oh no._

"Shhh…It's okay." I hop up and grab her shoulder. "It's okay." I repeat myself as Sabine starts quietly crying. "It's going to work out Sabine. Promise."

* * *

I key in the code to the side door as Kanan lifts Sabine up onto the porch since she can't use the steps in her wheelchair. The door clicks gently, indicating that I keyed the code in right, then pull open the door and step aside for Mr. Wren to push Sabine inside. Sof, her mother, Kanan and Hera follow right behind and Kanan shuts the door behind him.

"Where do you want to be _ad'ika_?" her father asks Sabine.

"I don't know." She confesses, sounding irritated. Her father simply takes charge and moves her in between the kitchen and living room.

 _Sabine's doing pretty good, all things considered. She has feeling in all of her extremities and the doctors said that she's come thru about as well as possible. She's just got a long road and a lot of rehab ahead of her. But she's probably going be able to get back to being the old Sabine, just with a little neck stiffness._

Meanwhile, in front of me Sophie loops to the conservator and takes out a couple of drinks, then takes on to Sabine and hands it to her.

"Thanks Sof." Sabine musters up a smile before cearly exerting her will into opening the bottle and lifting it to sip it.

 _Her legs are the ones lagging behind right now. All the tests came back clear, but with the injury like it is, she just will need time just to be able to stand on her own two feet again. Literally. Her arms are okay, even though she can't lift them above her head. She can feed herself and kind of wheel herself around, but gets tired quickly._

 _And let me tell you, it's driving her CRAZY. That is, when she's not so exhausted that she's sleeping. She's slept a lot._

But that's okay.

"I'll have a look around the house, see what we need to start getting things set up." Hera volunteers. Sabine's parents quickly follow her towards the basement, whereas her father goes off on his own, leaving just Sabine and I.

Looking helpless, Sabine tilts her head as much as she can with her new neck brace, designed to keep her spine in place so it can heal and looks at me. I smile down at her and reach for her hand. "Glad to have you home."

"Yeah." Sabine answers weakly before the front door opens unannounced.

In a flash, I've pulled out my lightsaber and raised it to fire on the uninvited guests, only to freeze and lower my blaster.

 _Rex and Echo made it._

"Hey, sorry, didn't know it was you." I say to deaf ears.

Rex and Echo both are frozen, looking at the sight of a damaged and immobile Sabine.

 _They look heartbroken._


	10. Passing The Time

(A/N: Timelines in the Star Wars universe are…well let's call them messy. It's a little like political parties in that you can choose the one you like. There's ABY (After Battle of Yavin), the Great ReSynchronization (35 years before the birth of the Empire), the Lothal Calendar (a Lothal only dating system) and on and on. For the purposes of this chapter, and all previous chapters (EX: Ch. 8 of Flaming Rebellion), I'll be using the Galactic Standard Calendar. As to why I'm writing this lengthy prologue, well, you'll see. Thank you for reading.)

 _7-04-3280: 20:41_

"Dear? Do you and Ezra have a moment?" I hear Mrs. Wren's voice carry thru the halls and to me as I'm changing from the shower. Sabine's reply doesn't float back to me as easily, but I quickly pick up the pace, throwing on some clothes and hustle out into the heart of the house.

 _I can always shave later tonight or tomorrow. It's just a trim anyway. Even though I am due to shave everything off._

"I heard my name." I smile at Sabine and her parents. Carid looks up from his datapad and Bo turns away from Sabine to smile at me.

"Hi dear. Carid and I just wanted to talk to you for a moment."

Carid raises his finger and points to his wife without looking up from his datapad. "She wants to. I'm just standing beside her. Metaphorically."

"Thanks." She rolls her eyes, causing Sabine to smirk at me. I smile back, seeing her smile finally reach her eyes.

 _Good. We need more smiles like that._

"Anyway, Carid and I were thinking of having me stop teaching down in Keldabe so that I can help you two around here while you're recovering. And we wanted to see what you two thought of the idea."

 _That's not necessary._

"Uhm…" Sabine stutters, then looks to me.

"That's nice. But I think we've got it." I smile at Bo.

Sabine adds. "Yeah, you don't have to change everything that you're doing just for me. Ezra and I can handle everything."

"Dear, you're falling into the same trap Ezra fell into with his arm. Thinking that things aren't severely impacted by your injury. Everything will be different now." Her father says, still looking at his datapad.

"Because I just need to rehab and follow my schedule, which I will, Ezra will make sure of it. Everything else like my armor and training will come back to me in time. The hard part will be patience. And I've got everyone telling me to be patient and annoying me about it." Sabine says exasperatedly. "I'll be fine."

Her father asks "Well what if things don't come right back? What if your best is just a tick behind what you used to be able to do? That wouldn't be shocking at all."

I hear Sabine take a sharp intake of breath before Sabine's expression turns furious and Bo says "Sabine, no—Carid, coming your way."

Sabine angrily wheels over to her father, then knocks the datapad out of his hands. "If you're going to be a part of this conversation, then be a part of it." She scowls at him, then turns her back and wheels back to me.

"Dear, it's not personal. These are just the facts."

"You don't have to stop what you're doing in the city though! Kanan and Hera will stop by, Rex and Echo too, probably Darcy when they get back from Lothal. Plus Ezra's here every day until he goes back to work." Sabine argues the point.

Bo interjects "Everyone gets tired of each other at some point Sabine. We're just thinking of adding enough variety to your recovery that it can be a positive. And that's not even mentioning that you're maintaining your role in the Rebellion while you recover."

"Because if she leaves the vacuum will be filled." I jump in.

 _Last time I commed to talk to Zeb on Crait, I was shuttled to a comms officer who legitimately had no idea who I was. Not that it matters, but we're still with the Rebellion. It feels a little too like the Empire for people on our own side to not know who Sabine and I are._

"That's the vanity play. Self-Importance." _Mand'alor_ comments, appearing from the basement. "Sophie's going to bed now."

"Thank you Fenn." Carid smiles as Sabine and I look to each other and roll our eyes.

Bo catches us and smirks. "Well, regardless of what you two think it's happening. I've already put in my notice."

In response, Sabine grabs the holo remote and chucks it thru the kitchen before it lands hard on the floor and skids to the back wall.

* * *

 _9-12-3280: 18:01_

Sophie's dessert bowl of eaten iced cream and chocolate clinks as Sof sets the bowl aside and moves to get the brush and soap to clean it before I scoop it up with her back turn.

"You can have another bowl." I smile at Sof while holding her bowl out to her. Sof adorably stops what she's doing, holding the brush and looks to me.

"Really?" She beams hopefully/ I nod, causing her to scamper back to the conservator. "Thank you Ezra!"

I laugh to myself. "You earned it. Thank you for helping Sabine and I today."

"You're welcome. I had fun watching her paint and getting her stuff." Sof perkily responds as I slowly start toward the office and the windows rattle from a gust of wind impacting them.

"Run those numbers." I hear Sabine ask as I'm at the threshold of the office, then slip inside to see Sabine sitting in the desk chair, holo inserted into the desk activated instead of the larger wall unit.

 _She's hiding her injury. Projecting an image of her usual strength to the Rebellion. Only Kanan, Ahsoka, the very higher ups know she's as hurt as she is._

 _I've been expecting to hear from Leia, knowing how on top of everything she is, but nothing yet._

Sabine hears me as I step onto a creaky floorboard and glances up, then smiles. "I'm replacing that stupid floorboard." I joke, joining her at the desk to see what she's looking at.

"The latest Star Destroyer movements." Sabine fills me in before Maddie appears back onto the screen with Zeb.

"Hey you two." He smiles at the sight of us as my spirits soar.

Sabine beams "Hey Zeb. How are you?"

"Good, the usual. How's the domestic life?" He teases us.

"The usual." Sabine jabs back playfully.

Maddie smiles at the exchange. "The _Executor_ is dry docked at the Kuat Drive Yards. Multiple Star Destroyers left the ship before they jumped to Kuat and have been tracked to Lothal."

 _Back on that bantha fodder. As always. I guess you can't get back to something you're always doing._

"Have you been in contact with your teams on the ground there?" Zeb asks us.

I nod. "Yeah, the situation is stable."

 _Stable meaning that it continues being a humanitarian disaster and a moral atrocity, but we're making the best of it. Thousands of Mandalorians helping Lothal's rebels get by, stretch resources, assisting in any way possible._

"File is uploaded." Maddie smiles at us, causing Zeb to join in.

"Is Sof up?" He asks chipperly. "I saw that she set a new personal best on the sim."

 _11-18-3280 09:49_

 _Get…off._

Closing my eyes again, I focus on pushing the suffocating influence of the Force off me and roll my neck in an effort to relax.

 _Nope. Woke up, felt the Force right on top of me. Mediated, and that worked a little bit, cleared things up a bit. Sabine and I aren't in danger, but there's something brewing._

In the guest room, I hear Sabine grunt, either from irritation or effort as I walk to the holo in the office and fire it up.

 _Protocol 179._

"Uhh…" I mutter to myself, then frantically dig in the desk for our master list of Codes and Protocols, meant to pass along vital information without writing it out.

 _Meaning eyes are watching…osik._

"Problem!" I call out to Sabine. "Protocol 179!"

A moment passes before Sabine grunts. "Dammit, out of the chair!" She hollers. "And I forget what 179 is off the top of my head!"

"Loss of base and full retreat!" I yell back, already walking toward the guest room.

"WHAT?! On HOTH?!"

"Yeah!" I answer, walking back.

"HOLO LEIA! LIKE!N—oh, I didn't know you were walking in here. Uhh!" Sabine winces, sitting down on the hardwood floor and reaching to scoot herself over a few more inches closer to her wheelchair.

Despite my rapidly darkening mood, I smirk and lift her into the air with the Force. "NO! Put me down Ezra!"

"Rehab can wait for an hour. We need Fulcrum." I say, just before the holo lets off its missed comm sound.

Sabine scowls as I gently set her into her wheelchair then watch her whip around angrily. "I felt like I was actually starting to activate some muscles."

"Great." I smile as she wheels away toward the office and follow her.

 _754121\. That's Ahsoka and Lux._

Instantly, Sabine moves to return the holo. "Would you mind getting me and X-Lite? As sad as that is to ask since I've done nothing."

"You've done something." I correct her. "Second rehab day, trying to activate muscles you haven't used in a while. I'll be right back. Snack?"

She deliberates as I step into the hall before calling out "An apple would be great!"causing me to laugh to myself and pull one to me as I grab the X-Lite with the other hand.

"Sabine?" I hear the holo connect and Ahsoka's relieved voice. "Lux! Got her."

"Oh thank goodness." I hear Lux's reply and Sabine laugh to defuse some of the tension.

"What happened? We checked the holo this morning before cooking breakfast." Sabine asks as I walk back into the office and hand her the snacks before looing up into the concerned faces of Ahsoka and Lux.

Ahsoka gulps, then frowns. "Hoth fell."

"Well I know that. How? Where's everyone now?" Sabine asks sarcastically.

"We don't know." Lux responds. "We got a report saying that Han bumped into an Imperial probe droid and destroyed it. We recommended going dark in the least, with a partial evacuation. Then we heard nothing for 16 hours."

 _SIXTEEN HOURS?!_

Sabine scowls. "Sixteen hours? And how'd we miss this?"

"I don't know." Lux says, hands up to indicate his non-verbal apology.

Ahsoka steps across him and continues his point. "Point is, that now we're scattered again."

"And no word from Luke or Leia." Lux shrugs.

 _Knowing them, probably up to their necks in trouble. AGAIN._

Sabine bites her apple angrily. "I'll get searching."

"What about Kanan, Hera…?" I trail off.

"We don't know. Hera and Kanan are on Glee Anselm with Rin and Pypey. But Zeb, Rex, Echo, nobody knows anything."

 _That could be a real problem if the Empire does something more to Lothal._

Sabine and I exchange looks before Sabine looks back to the holo. "Where do you think we should begin?"

* * *

 _12-19-3280 17:00_

Three gentle taps on the glass causes me to turn away from my potatoes and to the glass door, where Prime, Will, Kal, Orir, Darcy, Katiey, Aiden, Brie, Tracy and Mira are all standing patiently.

"Oh!" Mrs. Wren yelps, then hustles to open the door. "Get in get in! You'll catch a cold."

"Already…done." Katiey sniffles miserably as the others let her go first, then follow right behind. "Thanks."

"Tea?" Sabine asks beside me as I take a closer look at the guys.

 _They've all grown their hair out. Even Kal, who keeps it buzzed so low he's nearly bald. They all minus Prime have decent beards. Even though Will's is super patchy._

Everyone minus Bo whips around and look thrilled. "You're up!" Will smiles as Darcy moves around the peninsula blocking her from Sabine.

"Yeah. Moving slow." Sabine smiles, then half hugs Darcy, who briefly seems hurt but brushes it off before moving out of the way. "Thank you."

Tracy sheepishly smiles, the only one to get a proper hug from Sabine. "No, really. You saved me. I could have died, I could have lost the ability to walk or use my arms. But no, I'm going to be fine." Sabine smiles. "Thank you."

Tracy blushes and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I just followed what I've been taught. I'm glad you're up and about."

"Yeah, last time we saw you, you were confined to a bed." Will smiles, leaning on the counter.

"And had a neck brace, and was trapped in a wheelchair." Her mother compliments her as Sabine suddenly looks disgusted.

"I never, ever want to see that brace again. Did everything I could to keep it clean and…yuck." She shudders. "Anyway, can someone help? I'm moving really slow and don't want to try and go faster."

"Of course." Prime volunteers, then is stopped by Kal's hand on one shoulder and Orir on the other.

"No, you're not burning this place down." Kal jokes, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

Bo quips "Yeah, please. They haven't refurbished anything in weeks, let's not force their hands."

"You did more?" Brie asks, following the others to wash her hands.

"Replace appliances." I dismiss the issue. "Wind storm broke a window in the back. Nothing dramatic."

Orir snaps dramatically. "Shame."

"You guys got a lot more snow up here than we did down in the city." Darcy adds. "What do we need to do?"

"Cut up some of the vegetables, pick out what you like. And for two people to make the salad. Ezra's making a different potato dish so he's tied up." Sabine explains, then watches as Prime and Aiden team up for the salad and Will to grab a vegetable and inspect it.

"Is the market here decent?" he asks curiously as the other begin to get themselves drinks.

I nod, returning to my potatoes. "Yeah, good enough."

"They don't have the depth of selection Keldabe does, or the quality in spice. It varies so much that we don't cook much exotic stuff."

Bo adds "That bad?"

"Not bad, just…where I don't like it as much." Sabine makes a face at the window. "Just a preference thing."

"Call ahead next time and we can grab a couple of things." Katiey smiles, tissues in her hand and sitting at the table.

"I like the rough and rugged looks. Lothal rub off on you guys?" Sabine teases Prime.

Prime and Kal laugh as Will self-consciously scratches his beard. "Sort of. Really it was practical. Made us blend in nearly flawlessly." Kal nods.

 _Yup._

"How are things there?" Bo asks, getting a refill on her wine.

 _Now that I think about it, I need a drink to listen to this._

Reflexively, I turn for Rex and Echo's brandy and refill my glass with a splash, then pour soda on top. Only to turn and see a sour look from Prime. "What?"

"That's it? That's barely a drop." He says dismissively, nodding to the three fourths filled bottle that I've very, very slowly been working my way thru.

"It's strong. 180 proof. I barely need any if I want to be useful."

Sabine chimes "I don't like him useful. I wish he'd have more."

 _THANKS._

Mortified, I turn to her as the room is in stitches. "Really? Really?"

Will sets his knife aside and rests his hands on the countertop as he continues laughing. "Truth." Sabine smiles.

"Mommy?" Sophie's voice calls out from the basement. "Can you help me with my hair please?"

Mrs. Wren smiles and walks over. "Yes _ad'i_ —oh goodness. How'd you do this?"

"I was trying to comb it and I don't know what happened." Sophie says simply, sounding down before she appears, clad in shorts and a tank top with her small braid, becoming standard on the right side of her head with the comb caught up in her hair behind it.

 _OW._

"Nyehhh." Sabine utters behind me, causing me to look back at her and see that everyone has mixed looks of laughter mixed with pain at Sof's predicament.

"Stand here while I sit and have leverage. How did you do this?" Bo repeats herself.

"I _don't know Mommy…_ " She replies, beyond sarcastically, facial expression of annoyance and mocking.

"Don't take that tone with me." Bo retorts, then yanks once on her hairbrush, causing Sof to wince in pain.

"OW!"

"Tone." Her mother repeats herself simply, then begins gently parsing thru her hair and massaging her scalp.

"You're defying gravity Sof." Darcy comments with a smile as she, Brie, Orir and Tracy are slowly approaching.

"Darcy! HI!" Sophie beams! "You're here? Weren't you on Lothal?"

Darcy nods. "Until just a few days ago. Now we're home."

"And now your hair is all messed up!" Will teases her, poking his head out. Tracy instantly whips around to him.

"Shut up. This hurts a lot."

"So I've heard." Will rolls his eyes.

Bo smiles. "Now you see why I keep mine so short."

"But it just got stuck…" Sof says miserably. "I was doing it like you told me to, and now it's like I tangled every cord in the house or something. Why do you guys all have beards?"

Prime turns to Will and Orir, who smile. "Lothal thing." Kal answers.

"To get back on subject from earlier, it's about how it has been. Supplies and tactics have stabilized. Given time, they'll dig in and eventually overwhelm the Empire's resources." Prime gets us back on track.

"Overwhelm?" Sabine says, sounding skeptical.

Prime nods. "Yes. And I'll bring this back around, but I learned about how he ticks while we all were there. How he's wired, tendencies, all of it." He says, pointing to me.

"What do you mean?" Bo asks, as she and Sof are listening intently.

"Okay, for example. Take Ezra's defiance to lose." Will jumps in. "How he defied every law of logic, physics, nature to take down that pirate ship? That's some of his Lothal spirit. To a man, every one of them have kept moving. Kept living. Never giving up, even when they probably should. Shuffled from camp to camp to camp. Hope lives eternal."

"It was inspiring." Brie smiles at me.

I feel my stupid smile on my face as Prime jumps in. "Even his hair. You know how he always trims it? Never fully cutting it? I know why. I know why!" He shakes his finger at me.

 _Oh no. He does know._

"Why? I thought he just likes it." Sabine comments.

"No, it's part of Lothal's culture. Nearly every man, almost every one younger than us, has long hair. That's just how it is. We noticed that they usually keep it until they find their wife or start a family, then they cut it and grow a beard. Ezra's playing it halfway, doing both."

"Kinda?" I say, unsure of how to play it.

"You mean that's true?" Bo asks as Sophie looks confused.

"Yeah, it's an older tradition. Goes back to the gods, shows commitment to the land and the people. Most people don't even think of it nowadays probably, but the gesture lives on."

Kal swallows then speaks up. "Even how the minute stuff works. Men do a lot of the heavy lifting, it's out of the question for them to fight. They view like cooking in an old Mandalorian way."

"Some aspects are very conservative, I'll give you that." I concede.

 _Now please keep it moving. That's the part I don't particularly care for._

"But it's a critical part of who he is. What's different, is his kindness, his heart. We assume Sabine and everyone on the _Ghost_ taught him that."

"Reminded me, but yeah." I smile.

 _I had to forget it for years on end._

"So you're not cutting your hair for Lothal?!" Sophie asks, clearly put off by the idea.

I laugh, then smile at Sof. "At least not until Lothal is free and I've visited."

 _I want to walk around there and feel like I'm saying, even nonverbally that really, I never left._

"You sound like you've had this idea for a while." Aiden asks.

I nod, causing Sabine to frown. "And you never told me?"

"I didn't think it was important!" I say defensively. "It's hair."

"Well apparently it's super important to your culture!"

"I guess, but it's not something I think about daily. I just…fall back on it. Like Prime said, it's how I'm wired."

Prime jumps in. "Kind of like how my folks freaked when they saw me with this." He sweeps his hair back, so that it's almost slicked back, but without gel. "I mean, c'mon."

"It's freaking me out." Sophie says deadpan, sending everyone rolling onto the floor laughing.

* * *

 _12-19-3280 23:25_

"—so after Hoth and that message from Leia, nothing?"

"Nothing." I nod, unsatisfied at my own answers.

Darcy flips thru a file. "It's been too long. Leia giving up operational control to Mon Mothma makes sense on the surface, I guess. But it's only a month? I don't know."

"It's very un Leia-like to give up control." Will shakes his head.

Prime adds "Whatever happened, and wherever it happened must have changed their priorities."

"You don't think she quit? Do you?" Tracy asks.

"No." I blurt out definitively.

"No way." Prime shakes his head strongly.

Orir laughs haughtily. "Hah! As if."

"I wish." Katiey muses.

Tracy glances down to her drink. "Oh. Sorry."

* * *

 _2-2-3281 18:00_

The door creaks nostalgically as Sophie slips inside, darting in front of a few waiting parents with their children. "Sorry." I smile at them sheepishly.

 _Sof may be growing up, but she still has her moments._

 _Ori'bavar_ is abuzz with the chatter of children, students happy to be back along with their parents exchanging pleasantries.

" _Ar'an!"_ Someone calls out in my direction, and I see multiple students of mine, visibly happy to see me while hustling over.

 _Brir, Der'k, Itas, Shi…_

I smile to myself and bow respectfully to them. "Long time, no see. Everyone alright?"

"Yeah." "Uh huh." "Yes _Ar'an_." They all generally reply as the Force radiates with their happiness.

"How have you taken to your new instructor? Treating you alright?" I ask curiously.

 _Seeker says I'll have my job back whenever Sabine's good enough to be on her own day in and day out, but it can't hurt to see what they say._

"Alright, but he isn't you _alor_." _Der'k_ says earnestly, getting a laugh out of me.

"Well thank you. I appreciate it. Missed you guys."

 _Itas_ takes advantage of the shift in conversation to ask "Is your wife okay? Seeker said something happened in Keldabe right after those pirates came in and busted everything up."

"Did you see the _Mandalorian Knight_ come in though? The way he flew into action…Vroom shhhh!" _Shi_ dances around, pretending to hold a lightsaber as behind them, Seeker gestures for me to come forward.

"I've got to go guys." I say briefly, then slip up to the front of the room. "Sir."

Seeker smiles at me. "Ezra, a welcome surprise. How's Sabine?"

"Better! Much better. Not 100%, not even close yet, but she's coming along. Thought I'd make a cameo real quick if that's okay with you."

"Of course, of course." Seeker brushes me off. "You'll just have to be my comic relief."

I smile thankfully, then wave at a couple of other instructors, who acknowledge me, but do no more.

 _One of the few things I don't like about this job is how cutthroat it is. Most everyone sees their peers as competitors. Comes from the dueling ranks, where most of them come from. It's not a friendly job, everyone is viewed with suspicion. I've even heard of teachers sabotaging students that they thought could one day steal their jobs or break their records._

My mind drifts away as I settle up front and Seeker begins to speak, welcoming back both the parents and students, while outlining the Academy to the newest crop of parents that are here for the first time.

"And last, but not least…some of our returners know him as the instructor who kind of vanished…" Seeker jokes, getting a decent amount of laughs, mostly from the students. "Ezra."

I wave to the assembly, then look back to Seeker as he holds court. "Ezra, how's things? Can you give a brief explanation of where you've been?"

 _Damn. I didn't think he'd make me say this. I heard he explained it away months ago._

"Uh, yeah." I nod, bringing up a microphone and speaking into it. "It's not really dramatic, my wife got caught up in the mess with the pirates down in Keldabe and got hurt. Been nursing her back to health ever since. But glad to be back for a night." I turn and smile at Seeker.

"And how is deal old Sabine? Coming along?"

"Yeah, she's coming along. Even though I'm starting to worry she just wants me out of the house with how much she keeps saying I can come back to work." I joke, causing all the parents to loudly laugh along with the instructors and Seeker.

Seeker smiles while shaking his head "Doesn't sound too bad to me."

"She's coming along Seeker." I smile, effectively ending his line of inquiry and forcing him to transition away from me and to the Academy, which he does.

* * *

 _2-2-3281 20:24_

This time, it's Sof who pulls open the door for me, this time the door to the house, which is just as we left it. "I'm gonna take a shower Ezra, I'm kinda tired." Sof peers up at me.

"Sounds good Sof. Good job today." I compliment her.

 _We did a little training with everyone after we lectured. Sof definitely had the best footwork out of anyone her age and knew what she was doing._

Sophie smiles and turns to her basement as I slip back toward the guest bedroom.

 _Sabine's probably put everything up and is back in our room, it is late for her on training days like this._

As expected, the guest room is completely empty, with evidence that Sabine ran thru another full set of her rehab exercises, against what she was supposed to for the "afternoon" set.

 _She's only supposed to do a full set once a day. Well, at least I know where she is._

I walk back to our room, and find Sabine right where I'm expecting to, asleep on our bed with the holo playing a newscast, head curled up on a nook of the special pillow we bought for her neck with her wheelchair that she still has to use sparingly when she's absolutely exhausted set up like she basically fell out of it and into bed, pointed away from her.

Smiling to myself, I adjust her covers then turn around her wheelchair so that when she gets up in the morning she doesn't have to struggle with it.

 _I think I'll go to the office, see how the galaxy is today before I meditate._

Halfway thru my walk to the office, my stomach rumbles audibly, forcing me to audible, walking downstairs to Sophie's room, where as she said, the shower is playing with an audio file playing an informational program.

"—top speed of 45 KPH with bursts of 35 sustained, the interior working of…"

I knock loudly twice on the door before cracking it open and raising my voice. "SOF?"

"YEAH?!" She hollers back.

"I'm making a snack, you want some?" I ask.

She pauses for a moment as the sound of water rushing continues before she replies "Yeah, sure! Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" I call back, then close the bathroom door and start back upstairs.


	11. Start The Clock

_3-2-3281 11:04_

I slip under Prime's attempt at a strike at my lightsaber, turn around him and feign a lethal blow to his neck before stopping and taking a step back, allowing our sparring to continue.

 _I need the reps again a real foe, so my killing blow doesn't mean anything other than a quick reset._

Prime scowls in frustration, wipes his forehead and resumes his assault on my defenses with a chop. I block the move, then redirect it so that I have an easy alley to poke Prime in the chest, then barely tap him with my dulled lightsaber, instantly causing him to wince.

"DAMMIT!" He yells in frustration, then deactivates the training saber and spins away from me. "I promise I'm trying! It's too easy for you."

"It's reps." I smile.

 _He's fighting above his weight class._

Prime nods, then his expression returns to exasperation. "But…I don't understand how anyone hits you though. Ever. You're in one spot, I move to attack and do something about it, but by the time I get there, you've hit me and moved!" He whips around and flips the hilt into a nook in the rocks outside my little enclosure that I built here in the back of the backyard.

"I've only been hit once." I shrug. "Actually, no. Twice."

"Head, hand. Yeah. Makes sense. And the head doesn't really count, you had barely done any training." Prime adds.

I nod, clipping my lightsaber to my belt. "I was a blinded gundark. Break?"

"Sure." He nods before together, we start back to the house.

 _Sabine must have moved to the range. Sof's playing her music, which is a lot more old fashioned than Sabine's. Sabine loves Core Drive, Sof is more of an orchestral girl, like the opera that performed at that wedding._

As we walk thru the house, Sof's head pops up from her hallway along with her music. "Ezra, can I have a snack? I'm hungry."

"Sure." I smile.

 _Even though we just had breakfast like three hours ago. A huge breakfast since we have Rex, Echo, Prime and Aiden over. And she's still hungry._

Prime chuckles as he pulls the door open, and for the familiar 'Pop!' of hands hitting protective gloves rapidly to drift up to our ears. 'Pop!' 'Pop Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop Pop!' 'Pop!'

When we reach the yard, I see Sabine, her arms blurs as Echo is seated on a rock, hands extended, allowing her to hit his pads as fast as she can.

 _It's not a bad workout. I tried it a few days ago, and I feel faster. When Sabine gets back to full strength, we'll be able to be each other's pad practice._

Prime and I join Rex, who is standing behind Sabine with a smirk on his face. "How's it going?" I ask rhetorically.

 _He's happy. Sabine's ahead of schedule. He and Echo weren't expecting her to be jogging around the property and doing very light strength training already. Rex wasn't thrilled she's focusing on strength instead of quickness and flexibility, hence hitting the pads._

"She's dipping her shoulders too much, but her knee bend is great, and her speed is superb."

'Pop!' 'Pop Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop!' 'Pop Pop!'

Sweat keeps pouring down Sabine's face, but she barely breaks form as she wipes her face, flicks her hands and then hits the pad across from her.

"Time." Echo says, then smiles. Sabine takes a heavy breath, then crouches down and closes her eyes.

"I was wearing out finally that time. _Buirshika!_ " She says, then snatches up her water bottle. "I heard about my shoulders. I'll work on it."

Rex smiles, understanding. "Your hands are plenty fast, right where I think they should be."

"I'll ask Mom too. She's always been my baseline." Sabine gasps, then starts sucking down more water.

"I was thinking of adding in a little movement on my end. A fake punch here and there for evasion." Echo says to Rex.

Prime shrugs. "Core strength and evasion. Seems fine to me."

"Did you see Sof when you came thru the house?" Sabine asks me.

I nod. "Yeah, she's hungry again." Quickly, everyone starts to laugh, and Sabine beams.

"House, home. She'll be eating the foundation next."

"Probably her first big growth spurt coming." Rex smiles.

Echo shakes his head. "Not quite yet, she's nine. Kids hit their growth period in full force around 11, 12. I thought, right?" He turns to Sabine and I.

 _I think so, but I hit mine at 16/17. But I also had the malnourishment thing. Sabine's always been Sabine height to me. And girls are different from boys._

"I hit mine late. I was about 13." Sabine gestures, then moves to get more water, only for it to sputter back at her. "Aww damn. I'm out."

Echo takes the water without asking. "I'll get you a refill, then we can—" He says before being cut off by the sound of a ship engine causes us all to turn toward the massive roar.

 _The Millennium Falcon?! What the—Why?_

I turn to Sabine as the Falcon gently sweeps around the property, heading for the landing area near the shooting range. "Did you hear—?"

"No. Nobody's heard anything." She answers me. "I have no clue."

"Let's go check it out." I turn to Prime. "Maybe this is good."

Prime gives me a skeptical look. "I'm not so sure about that. How can we be sure it's not a trap set by Vader?"

 _That would be a good trap. We know Vader was hunting Luke down or at least trying to. It'd be a move he'd make, to camouflage his intentions by flying in the Falcon._

I probe out, then shake my head and wave for Prime to follow. "No, I feel Luke and Leia. I'm feeling positive today."

"Hah!" Sabine laughs. "Maybe they come bearing gifts or came to say hi!"

I shrug as Prime and I jog down the gravel path down the yard, passing the shooting range just as the Falcon touches down. "Answering your question, if it is a trap, better we face it than anyone up there."

"Fair point." He nods, blaster pistol in his hand before gas emits from the Falcon and ramp extends out.

 _Four Force Signatures. Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie probably._

"Oh you've got to be…" I mutter under my breath as Lando Calrissian walks onto the ramp, spurring me into action. "Lando?"

"Ezra Bridger! A long time and many stars since I saw you last." He says warmly. "As well as a growth spurt. You're looking well."

 _Leia._

"Do we know him?" Prime asks, already looking skeptical.

"Yeah, met him on Lothal. Was pulling some hijinks when it turned into an Idiot's Array with a puffer pig." I roll my eyes and look to Leia. "Are you being held hostage?"

Leia suddenly laughs, then smiles. "Unfortunately, no. It's a long story. Do you mind if we stay here for a brief moment? Things have gotten…complicated."

 _Uh oh._

"Yeah." I nod. "Sure, but he—" I point to Lando. "Can't pull anything."

"Lando won't pull anything."

 _Luke._

Lando makes some smooth comment I block out, instead focusing on Prime's spirit soaring as we both smile at the sight of Luke Skywalker before I spot his right hand.

 _Uh oh._

"Your hand." I point out.

Leia simply answers. "Vader. Like I said, it's complicated." Chewie roars in agreement behind her, walking off the Falcon.

"Okay, tell R2 and Threepio to run diagnostics and checks on all major systems." Luke instructs Chewie, who turns back to the Falcon.

"Is this everyone? Where's Han?" Prime asks. Immediately. Leia's eyes find the dirt at her feet.

"Han, uhm, well he's been captured. Vader laid a trap for them where I had finally found a nice and quiet place to lay low. They gave him to a bounty hunter we've been keeping an eye on. Well, some of us have been." Lando says, then gives Luke a look. My eyes snap to Luke's belt, where a new, slender lightsaber is sitting where Anakin's should be.

 _Whoa._

"I'm sure you were doing something that brought Vader Lando." I roll my eyes, then wave for everyone to follow me before Leia falls into step beside me. "We were getting worried, nobody had heard from you outside of your deferment of power to Mon Mothma in months."

Leia frowns, as her eye level remain on the snow covered ground. "It's a long story. We've been on the run almost since Hoth fell."

"The whole time?" Prime asks, sounding shocked.

"Yes." Luke jumps in. "Been running thru a gambit of planets for a few reasons but we need a place to sit for a moment. And Leia thought this might be it."

Leia's concerned look doesn't leave her face before I smile. "Absolutely, that was kind of the point of moving up here after Jedha. We aren't really even hiding, just living while Sabine recovers."

"RECOVERS?" Lando, Luke and Leia all chant back at me, looking alarmed before Leia takes charge. "What happened?"

"You didn't hear?" Prime asks the group.

"No." Luke shakes his head. "We've been unplugged from everything, trying to get our act together. What happened?"

I feel Leia's eyes bore into my head unrelentingly before I sum the last few months up succinctly. "Pirates attacked in Keldabe, the capitol. _Mand'alor_ asked us to intervene, not that he had to. At one point, we got separated as I attacked a ten foot tall lifeform in large metal armor that was butchering everyone in his path. Sabine pursued a sniper who took down a classmate of Sophie's only for him to pull a dirty trick on her—"

"filthy really" Prime jumps in.

"—leaving Sabine with a pretty good neck injury, broken arm and a long recovery." I finish.

"It was bad." Rex suddenly says, causing everyone to turn and see him standing at the foot of the firing range. "Senator."

"Rex." Leia smiles. "All this is true?"

Rex solemnly nods. "Ezra's underselling it. But it looks like you haven't had it so easy either Luke."

Luke jumps at the sound of his voice, then makes a jittery motion. "I'm fine, just working some things out. Sorry we didn't hear about Sabine."

"Yeah, we would have called ahead or seen if we could find a way to help." Lando adds behind him.

"There hasn't been much to do outside of her rehab, which we've had more than enough help with her parents along with Rex and Echo." I explain before Rex takes point and we start back up the mountain. "So where have you been?"

"Tatooine, Corellia, Nal Hutta, Nar Shaadaa, Takodana, all over the place." Lando comments.

"Tatooine?" I blurt out and spin to look at Luke, who gives me a small smile and gestures toward his lightsaber.

 _Where would he have learned about the process of how to create a new lightsaber? Master Kenobi? Where was he?_

 _Tatooine._

"—think this would be a good time to take a break for some lunch, then we can resume afterward." Echo tells somebody, who I'm assuming is Sabine.

"No, I'm good to go now. But if Luke and Leia are here, then that'll be a—hi!" Sabine lights up once we reach the front yard and their little station.

Leia takes a few quick steps forward then stops. "We just heard. I'm so sorry we didn't before now. Are you…?"

"Oh dear." Is all Lando contributes to the conversation before Sabine spots him and gives him a withering look.

"You're running with Lando now?" Sabine asks Leia cynically.

"He's a friend of Han's." Leia defends him.

"Where is Han?" Echo asks beside Sabine.

Prime takes the opportunity to jump in. "Vader, of course. They said they'd explain here in a bit."

"We were about to have lunch. Come on in, shoes off at the door." Sabine smiles at everyone, grimacing at Lando.

I wave everyone in front of me, including Prime, who shakes his head and gestures for me to go first as everyone climbs the front steps and slides inside the house thru the side door.

"Sophie!" I hear Leia say happily, just before I spot Sof turn around, head in the fridge with an apple in her mouth.

 _She's hungry._

Sof makes a choking sound, then drops the apple into her hand and lights up. "Hi! Sorry, I was getting food. I'm hungry."

"Like always." Rex teases Sof, who blushes as the room laughs before moving to hug Leia.

"Everyone says there's nothing wrong with being hungry." Sophie comments, then moves to hug Luke.

"Absolutely nothing." Echo backs her up.

 _We really don't have all that much leftovers or sandwich materials, we weren't expecting guests until this coming weekend with Sabine's parents._

"I'm going to go see what we've got out back and start putting something together." I tell Sabine, who nods and smiles while leaning on the kitchen counter.

 _Breathe Ezra._

 _Vader got to Luke and has both he and Leia shaken. Han is who knows where, and they've been running since before Sabine got hurt nine months ago. Vader cut off Luke's hand like he did mine, except the opposite hand. I should probably get Maddie to start finding the footage of that fight. See where he went wrong, how it went, the whole thing._

Rolling my neck over to let it pop before I swing open the storage doors to check out our lunch options occupies me before I feel the Force tug behind me.

"Ezra?" Luke quietly speaks up in the doorway behind me.

I spin back and smile. "What's up Luke?"

"I, uhm, I was wondering something. Is your offer to help me still stand? Because well, I need your help." He asks humbly, then averts his eyes to the floor.

"Of course it still stands." I smile. "Technically it was Ahsoka, but yeah. Leia and the Rebellion have done a lot for Sabine and I. The least we can do is return the favor and help you. What do you have in mind?"

Luke's face breaks into a smile before he grabs his lightsaber and extends it to me. "Well, first off what do you think?" I take his lightsaber, then extend mine to him and start inspecting his new creation.

 _Thin body, utilitarian, definitely has some echoes of Master Kenobi's lightsaber…_

"Take my lightsaber." I instruct Luke.

"Why?" He fires back.

I flick my eyes up at him. "It's how things were done with Ahsoka and your father. They taught me this, and I'm teaching you. Take it." Luke accepts my lightsaber, and I fully focus on his lightsaber for a moment before stepping out of the shed and activating it.

 _Green. Huh._

"Interesting. And you mediated on the crystal?" I ask, assuming the answer while tilting the blade.

Luke nods. "I meditated on everything. The main reason I was on Tatooine was to go thru the rest of old Ben's stuff. I found all the materials I needed to make that, instructions, everything,"

"Like he was planning on teaching you." I smile to myself.

 _There was a plan._

"Yeah." Luke nods. "but nothing on lightsaber forms, combat thoughts, that sort of thing. I know you gave me some stuff, but I lost in in the scrum and madness on Hoth. Would you happen to have another copy?"

 _That information probably ended up back in Vader's hands. Great. He has my playbook. I guess to some extent he always has, since he gave me a portion of it, but still._

I nod, then extend his lightsaber back to him. "Yeah, I have another copy. We'll get that sorted out. Here's my main question: Are you willing to listen and be taught? Because I have some ideas, but if you're narrow and closed minded I'll have you run up and down that mountain until you freeze." I point to the towering peaks above the house.

"I'll be sure to be open minded. What sort of thing are you thinking?"

"Bringing in Ahsoka, first off. You hurt her, you know that." I put it bluntly. "You're her master's son. She really wanted to help."

"I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I just thought that deferring was the best call." He says defensively.

I nod in understanding, then grab a few large pieces of tonitrky, already basted and waiting to be cooked before moving towards the back patio and my grill. "We couldn't make you train, but it was a blow to things."

"I didn't mean it."

"We know." I nod. "I'll comm everyone later and started herding the Loth-Cats."

Luke perks up a little bit. "Leia's been digging into some details about that planet, Lothal. Apparently that's where you're from?"

"Yup." I nod. "They're trying to draw me out to this day so that they can take me out."

Luke's pace picks up. "Well that makes sense becau—" before the door open to the sight of Sof holding some basic barbecue ingredients. "Oh, sorry."

"Excuse me Luke." Sophie slides right by him and sets her stuff on the countertop beside the grill. "Sabine wanted you inside to start explaining something about something?"

Luke nods, then smiles at Sof. "I'll get right on that!" then waves to me and darts inside, shutting the door behind him.

 _Not the best timing Sof, but that's okay._

"Thanks for the ingredients Sof." I smile and glance over at Sof as she flicks on the sink and washes her hands. In uncharacteristic fashion, Sophie maintains a neutral look on her face while rubbing the soap between her fingers, underneath her nails, then underneath the water before grabbing the towels and drying her hands off.

 _She's thinking._

I smile to defuse her nerves before they even start, then say "I know that look. Your sister has it Sof, I can read it."

"What look? I don't have a look." Sophie's voice pitches up defensively, causing me to laugh.

"Sof." I say simply, causing her to duck her head. "You know you can tell me anything."

 _I've always told her that she can always talk to me. Doesn't matter if it's about school, cooking, a friend being rude, boys, drinking, sex, whatever. I wish I had somebody to talk to, and it's too awkward to talk to your family about it. So why not have Sof talk to me?_

"I don't like Lando." She says bluntly, with an ugly look on her face.

 _HAH!_

I hang my head and beam to myself, causing Sof to tilt her head curiously. "And why's that?" I ask, unable to keep my laugh out of my voice.

"Uhh…he's too smooth?" She says, looking and sounding unsure of herself. "He just doesn't feel right to me, like Mommy and Daddy and you and Sabine have told me to look for."

 _Her instincts are going off._

I force myself to take a breath, but smile over at Sof. "You wanna know the truth?"

"Yeah?" Sof answers.

"That's good. Sabine and I bumped into him, and he's a criminal, to be blunt. It's good that you picked up that something's not right. That's really good Sof."

"The word that comes to my mind is sleazy." Sof replies earnestly. "Shady."

"Corrupt. You're right, he's a fast talker."

"So I'm right?" Sof questions herself.

I nod. "Your instincts are dead on. And everyone installed them. Sabine and I, your parents, Kanan and Hera, Ahsoka and Lux, Rex and Echo, everyone. They wanted you to see thru guys like him."

Sof blankly blinks, then asks "Then what should I do about it?"

"Act normal, keep working on your schoolwork with Aiden and enjoy yourself. If you don't want to be around Lando, say you have to do something else." I smile and start whipping up a quick rub for the tonitrky.

"Okay."

Sof takes a step to walk away before I call out her name. "Oh, and Sof?"

"yeah?" She turns back to glance at me.

"Keep an eye on him. Just in case. He is a smuggler."

Sophie seems to take this in for a moment, then smirks to herself and bounces back inside.


	12. Quiet

(A/N: Apologies on the long delay in updates. Saw TLJ, having this chapter in the can and ready to post that Friday. And then Luke became a lot more complex and a lot simpler at the same time. So I basically had to scrap it and rewrite. Holidays, and blah blah and now here I am. Feedback on Luke's character would be appreciated, because he's really hard to get right. Thanks, and thanks as always for reading.)

"Sorry it took us a moment to get back to you." Hera smiles at Sabine and I before Kanan walks into the picture holding a mug. "Senator Organa."

Leia smiles and waves. "Hello General. How is Glee Anselm?"

"Going well." Hera answers, then looks to Sabine and I. "You said on the message you left that it was urgent? I assume this is why?"

Sabine nods. "Luke's here too. Wanting to get some legitimate Jedi training in."

"Where is he now?" Kanan asks quickly as Hera's eyebrows arch.

"I thought he didn't want to become a Jedi until after the fighting finishes." Hera adds.

"He's tinkering with his lightsaber on the Falcon right now. The new one he built doesn't have a practice feature built in." I explain. "And after Hoth fell, his perspective was changed. By Vader."

Hera winces and moves to walk in a circle as Kanan takes a breath. "Okay, we'll gather the _Ghost_ and head that way."

"Thanks. Hera, can you grab some of that fish that you brought last time? I'd love to make it since we're going to be having a full house." Sabine asks her.

"Yeah, sure. Anything specific you want?"

"No, but maybe ask Mom. You know how she can be." Sabine shrugs, causing both of them to laugh.

"Us, Ahsoka and Lux, Rex and Echo probably as well. Are you sure you'll have enough room?" Kanan asks Sabine and I.

Sabine shakes her head. "No, but we were going to ask if some people would be open to sleeping on their ships. Since we're up here we can park the _Star_ or the _Ghost_ up here."

"We can do that." Hera volunteers. "It'd be no trouble at all, right love?"

"Yeah, make things easier for everyone. We'll bring Zeb too."

Sabine smiles, then looks to me. "That's great. Let us know when you think you'll get here so we can plan around it for food and stuff."

"You don't have to do that dear. It'll probably very early or late." Hera tells her.

"Or we could stay up." I counter her, getting everyone to smile.

"Thank you." Sabine smiles. Hera and Kanan immediately return it, and Hera waves happily.

"We'll comm soon." She says before ending the call, leaving me to turn to Leia.

"That wasn't so bad." I smile.

Leia nods, looking at the white book Sabine's been building with scraps of fabric and bookmarks with her handwriting scribbled everywhere. "Uhm, please tell me this is what I think it is."

"Yeah." I smile as the Force lightens around Sabine, causing her signature to almost give off heat beside me.

"When'd you start planning?"

"When she got hurt." I explain. "Sabine's never had so much free time, and she didn't want to micromanage our cell, telling them how to breathe. So, she started that book."

Leia blinks a few times as Sabine slides up even with me, a thrilled smile on her face. "I know you guys have been married for a while, but and actual ceremony?" She smiles, then blinks back tears. "It looks beautiful."

"Thanks." Sabine keeps smiling. "Nothing's set in stone yet. We've got awhile until this war is over, then we'll get a place and everything."

"I think we're closer than ever." Leia says, her voice gaining strength again. "Luke coming here and training to fight Vader. We can whittle down the Empire here and there in the galaxy. The people are with us."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Sabine look at me before postulating "You're thinking about Han."

"I…it's just…" Leia starts, stops then blinks and sniffles as she tries to get a handle on her emotions.

 _She really does love him. I've never seen this side of her other than a flash of it on Yavin._

Sabine smiles to herself, then pulls Leia into a hug she quickly returns, causing my breath to get caught up in my chest before I force a smile onto my face. "It's going to work out. Lando's working on ways to infiltrate Jabba's palace and Ezra will talk to _Mand'alor_ about sitting Boba's ass down and making him explain himself."

"Sabine." I frown.

 _You were doing so well. But on Boba there's not much room to negotiate. He's under Vader's thumb, and by Mand'alor's word Mandalorians can fight for both sides. Just because he took our friend on a legal bounty set by Vader doesn't mean asking nicely will get him back._

"I know there's not much he can do. But we have to try." Leia say, voice gaining strength with every word.

"We will. Now I think you should get some sleep. And please don't set an alarm Leia. You've been running for months. Relax a little." Sabine asks her.

Leia smiles before her eyes find the floor again. "I'll try. Night."

"Night Leia." I smile at her retreating figure.

 _Poor girl. Lot on her plate, and that's not even the biggest worry in her mind right now. All she really wants is Han back._

"When did you guys know?"

"Huh?" I blurt out, turning to Sabine then spinning around fully to see Leia two steps away looking at Sabine and I.

"When did you guys know you loved each other?" Leia asks, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Uhh…" Sabine stalls before we look at each other again.

 _The first time I saw her on the Ghost. Easy._

Sabine glances around before shrugging. "It wasn't really a moment. It just kind of grew on me."

"Pick one." Leia asks, causing Sabine to look to me for help.

"I've got mine. When I saw you on the _Ghost_." I help her out, then smile.

Sabine lets out a nervous laugh, then tucks her hair behind her ear. "Fine, I guess if I had to pick one…a day or two after we came home. The first time. Dad was coming home from work, Mom was working on dinner in the kitchen and you and Sof were watching the holo. Things just made sense. It felt normal."

"That sounds really nice." Leia smiles. "Immediately fit in."

"Like he was always there. Sof instantly adored Ezra, you know how she is. I was gone so long that trip could have been really awkward and weird, but it just wasn't. And after that, yeah." Sabine smiles at Leia, then turns to me.

"You loved him before that." Bo says behind us, and I look back to see her and Prime in the doorway. Leia laughs quietly as Prime flicks his eyes in her direction before looking back to Sabine's mom.

"When did you see it?" Bo adjusts herself so that she's leaning in the doorway.

Bo inclines her head to me. "Sabine brought him and had Ezra knock on the door first. Once the initial shock wore off and Carid and I saw how they interacted, we assumed they were already together but weren't saying it."

Leia smiles, then nods her head and slips out of the room silently, leaving the four of us watching Leia walk towards the guest room.

Sabine deftly slides by me as I continue peeling potatoes while the clanking of pans off to my right continues. "Okay, got the pan, the eggs, flour, sugar, baking soda, chocolate and the icing. What next?" Leia asks Sof.

"Well, we have to make the batter and beat it with this machine."

Leia gestures to Sof for her to go on. "Show me." As Lux and Rex walks in from the back of the house.

"Grill's warming up." Rex tells the room, causing Sabine, who is spearing vegetables, to smile."

"Echo's on the holo, I think with Maddie. New intel." Sabine tells Rex, who subtly turns to go find him.

"Is it the new intel that we supposedly are getting with Zeb?" I ask Sabine quietly. Sabine simply shrugs, trying to pass our conversation off before a light roar is followed by the windows barely rattling and the _Ghost_ to appear, already in preparations to land past the firing range.

"They're here!" Sophie cheers.

"Stay focused." Her father reminds her gently.

"I am, but I was just saying that—"

"Work." Her mother smiles, joining Lux as he opens the door to go outside.

Her father turns away from the potatoes he's coating in butter for flavor. "Sabine, you should probably go out there too."

"I'm fine." Sabine hesitates, causing her hands to wig out a little before she sets her skewer half filled with vegetables down.

" _Ad'ika_ , it'll ease their nerves. Everyone's been worried about you." Her mother joins her husband, then smiles at her. Sabine moves to grab the skewer, only for it to wobble in her hand before she quickly sets it down.

"Fine." Sabine caves, then sidles over to the door and closes it behind her. I silently glance to her parents, expecting a reaction.

 _I think they saw what I saw._

"Not to intrude, but is that…normal?" Leia jumps in first as Bo and I barely get a look off.

I made a noncommittal movement as her Mom jumps in. "Yeah."

"She's always had steady hands." Lando comments. "How long has it been again?"

"About a year." Her father frowns before Chewie says something quietly behind Sophie and hands her multiple things, including a spatula, rolling pin, icing knife and some wax paper.

"Thanks Chewie." Sof smiles up at him.

Bo smiles before nodding. "I agree Chewie. It's amazing that she's come this far."

"That video…" Leia starts, then shakes her head. "You got the guy?"

"Yeah." I nod. "Lifetime in prison. And it's almost 8 months."

 _Worse for the deserters that allowed civilians to be gunned down. They were executed by firing squad after being excommunicated by House and Clan. It was controversial and contentious, but Mand'alor won out._

 _His word is law, and protecting Mandalore is always the number one goal._

"Almost a year." Mr. Wren laughs.

"Long enough." Lando says somberly, twirling her _narcolethe_ in a glass before the gentle sounds of conversation reach the glass door, followed by footsteps and the door opening.

"—figured that they'd try something else. But no." Zeb says as Sabine leads everyone into the house. Before anyone can say anything, Leia's worked her way around everyone and is approaching Zeb.

"The intel?"

"Bothan spies have a report. And a price." Zeb says quietly, then looks to me and smiles. "Ezra."

"Hey Zeb." I smile at him.

Leia takes a datapad from him and drifts toward the couch.

"How are we around here?" Kanan asks as Ahsoka looks around the house behind him.

 _Looking for Luke._

"In the back office. Ezra gave him homework." Carid explains to them, and Ahsoka starts off towards the back of the house.

Hera slides around Kanan and looks around. "Can we help?"

"Yeah, but would you mind going to look at the _Star_ with Chopper? Ezra and I let Sof do some routine maintenance and she bumped something. Prime and the guys are looking it over, but you're better than everyone here at astromechanics." Sabine smiles at Hera, then at Sof, who looks embarrassed.

"Of course." Hera smirks. "C'mon Sophie, let's go see what you bumped." Sof hesitates briefly, then moves aside so that Leia can take over the cake making duties.

"They had me look over the s-oil that you use in the landing gear. Change it out. The stuff that helps the joints stay loose I think? And now the alarm won't get off. I don't know what I did…" Sophie explains to Hera before Hera soothes her.

 _I don't think Sof did anything too bad. The Star hasn't even moved an inch._

"Is this verified? Certified and re-checked?" Leia calls out, sprawled out on the couch with her legs and boots draped over the arm of the couch.

 _Oh don't lie down on the couch like that, you'll ruin the arm…_

"Yes. Mon Mothma and the Council double verified before giving it that clearance and sending it along with me. No other physical copies." Zeb nods, prompting Leia to groan.

 _She looks like she just aged five years._

Sabine looks over to me before Lando asks "What is it?"

"It's…" Leia barely sits up, activates the holo in the corner of the room and throws something up onto the monitors. "That."

 _The Death Star?_

"Okay…what about it?"

"That's not…it. Mr. Wren, sir, according to your math, is there a limit to how big the Empire could build a Death Star?"

Mr. Wren steps forward, taking a look at the schematic. "It's just Carid Leia, and no, not really. It's more of a practicality standpoint. You yourself saw how much it took to finance the first one. Hyperspace is about the energy put into it rather than the size. Since it's shaped like a sphere, it makes it rather energy efficient, most of the trouble seemed to reside in the focusing of the Kyber crystals…besides, wait…" he hesitates, then walks up to the holo and starts typing rapidly. "This isn't a schematic. It's a profile on an existing structure."

"What?" Mrs. Wren says as Lando leans off the wall.

 _Impossible._

"The Bothans were hired years ago to blend into the Empire's intelligence apparatus. Make themselves valuable. If they found anything important, they'd let us know what and their price. It hasn't really paid off yet, they've missed more than they have found." Leia explains.

"We found the Death Star the first time." Kanan frowns. "So what is it?"

Leia swallows nervously and looks back at the red and white diagramming as Sabine's father is typing rapidly, calculations and formulas working on other screens. "It's a new one, a second Death Star."

 _Three Weeks Later_

Silently, I allow Sabine to lead the way into the MandalMotors lobby and to the lift, blending in with the workers.

"Mrs. Wren." One of them, a man in a suit smiles and moves to shake Sabine's hand. "Pleasure to see you again."

"Thank you." Sabine smiles.

"Big appointment?" The man asks as buttons are pressed and the lift closes.

Sabine shakes her head. "Oh no, just meeting with Daddy before we all go to lunch."

"Has your sister's school resumed?"

"No, not yet, they're still deciding what to do about that back retaining wall that was destroyed. She's up with us in Tokrush right now."

"Ahh, in the Tulvarees."

"She loves it." Sabine smiles as some people file out. "The nature ,the air, the freedom. Fits her better."

"Her father's been asking around about good schools for her to attend in the future, as I'm sure you are aware."

 _Good schools?_

Sabine's face freezes for a moment before she shakes her head. "No, he hasn't."

"Oh." The man locks up. "Didn't mean to speak out of turn."

"What sort of schools are we talking about?"

"I believe, and I'm not entirely sure, just heard thru word of mouth, but he's looking to get a foundational school first. Combat and that end but also an acclaimed sciences academy."

 _Like he did. He did most of his education off world on Corellia and Alderaan._

"Okay."

 _Sof did take a detailed IQ and aptitude exam a couple of months ago. Never did hear anything of it. Sof and her father had to go all the way to Coruscant to do it._

 _Sabine and I caved because we have no power, but both of us agreed that it'd put her on the Empire's radar. He's one of the best designers, builders, theoretical engineers in the galaxy. And he got his daughter a test that cost thousands of credits in the Imperial Capital. That just screams that he thinks something is up._

Blinking, I see that the lift has mostly cleared out before Sabine marches forward, right to her father's door and whips it open before I can reach it. "What'd that test say?"

 _Uh oh._

"Dear, it's all working out fine. Nothing's been done yet." I hear Carid placate Sabine as I slide inside and spot _Mand'alor_ sitting off to the side with a drink and a plate beside him.

"I told him to rope you guys in on this one." _Mand'alor_ greets me, extending his hand.

"Rope us in on what?" I ask, shaking his hand.

"Sophie aced her test. Her scores lined right up with his scores. Carid's been looking into setting her down a secure path."

"—it's why we allowed you to go to the Academy Sabine. I will not allow either of you to grow up without a path to travel down for success."

"She's barely 9 Dad!" Sabine fires back at her father. "What are you going to do, send her away? Like your parents did to you? You told me before I left that used to kill you inside!"

Carid looks quite uncomfortable before answering "Nothing's been decided yet. Onderon's an option. Hera and Kanan have been looking into getting a place there. She wouldn't be far."

"She…" Sabine stalks around in a circle. "A test is causing you to look into all of this. Tests aren't the end all, be all Dad. Look at me! I'm good in practical applications, but remember my first Imperial Regulations exam that I couldn't fire anything?"

"I do." Her father nods.

"I FAILED!" Sabine shouts. "What if she's like me and sucks at taking tests?"

 _Mand'alor_ speaks up. "I'm afraid we can rule that one out after this test Sabine. It's been given for almost a millennia and accounts for almost everything."

"Which is why we aren't acting yet." Her father adds. "I know how young Sophine is. She can always go a different path, she's not locked down to anything. She can always pick up her roots and go play _meshgeroya_ to her heart's content. Your mother and I only want her to be happy."

"But you're pursuing a path she might not want because of a test." Sabine snipes at him.

"Your test was right." Carid smiles. "Very well suited for combat, with an aptitude for creativity and the arts."

" _gaa'tayl ni Arasuum_." Sabine mutters, then turns to grab a drink for herself. (A/N: So help me gods…)

Carid changes subjects by smiling at me. "Ezra. Easy trip?"

"Nothing to really say about it." I say, then smile.

"Is Skywalker's son really planet side?" _Mand'alor_ asks me.

I nod. "He's training with Ahsoka and Kanan right now."

"And he's not nearly where he needs to be." Sabine adds bitterly, turning around to reveal that she's grabbed caf and a pastry.

"But I thought he's out flown Vader and fought him to a minor loss." _Mand'alor_ comments.

I nod. "He has, but he lost like I did. Our intelligence cell hijacked the footage from a planet called Cloud City. Vader played with his food. Luke got a blow in on his shoulder, and within three minutes Luke was clinging to a comm array for dear life."

"So Vader didn't take him seriously as a combatant." _Mand'alor_ extrapolates, and I nod.

"That, plus this new Death Star development…and suddenly, what felt like long odds seem even longer." Sabine sits on the arm of a chair.

"But there's a plan being drawn up." _Mand'alor_ says.

Carid smiles. "Yes, the smuggler Lando Calrissian has already flown back with a Wookie, Chewbacca to free Han Solo from the Hutts."

"To Tatooine. I meant a plan for this Death Star, but okay."

 _Lot of balls in the air._

"Right now, we're lying low and letting Leia and Lando plan out Han's escape. The only way we get involved—" I gesture to Sabine and I. "Is if their plan goes bad. We'll shoot up the place and simply take what they need, politics be damned."

 _Mand'alor_ nods. "I can handle the Hutts when they get angry for impeding on their sovereign territory. Where is this Death Star?"

"Endor's small forest moon." Carid nods. "We located it last week, after a Bothan spy operation lost every last man to get the information to us." Right away, _Mand'alor_ freezes up.

 _Heavy price to pay._

"That's asking a lot of them. But the intel is sound. And the security codes." _Mand'alor_ continues.

Sabine nods, then swallows a bite of her pastry. "And the security codes to get us, then Luke down onto the planet."

"You're going?"

I smile, then nod to Sabine. "We are."

"Primus, Will, Darcy, yourself Sabine. All of you." _Mand'alor_ clarifies.

"Yes. We have to try and stop it before it becomes operational and a planet goes full Alderaan. Or Jedha." I say firmly.

"Or our fears the day Jedha fell will become true." Carid speaks up. "And the Empire will strike here."

"How?"

Sabine smiles. "The _Star_."

"They'll know that's Mandalorian." _Mand'alor_ counters.

"But there's a garrison of commandoes down there, providing backup for the shield generator. We're planning on going and chatting with them." Sabine says casually.

"And if they say no?"

Sabine and I share a glance, then she looks to the floor. "Well, then they won't like what comes next. Because Luke's group will need backup on the surface of Endor." I frown.

 _Mand'alor_ sits there for a moment, sips his caf. "Endor."

"That's the one." I smile.

"Never heard of it."

"You probably will have after we're done there." Sabine jokes, which gets a begrudging smile out of him. "Now why'd you call us here again?"


	13. The Battle of Endor

(A/N: Congratulation to Dave Filoni, as well as the cast, crew and everyone over at LucasFilm that hlped start us all on this incredible journey that ended in the finale last night. Loved every second of it. Ezra Lives. Hope you enjoy.)

Luke spins away from Ahsoka's blow toward his left side before his body language betrays his lack of interest. In response, Ahsoka deactivates her lightsabers, spins hard on her heels and starts walking toward the mountain in the back.

 _He isn't taking this seriously._

Kanan and I glance at each other, then he speaks up. "Give us a minute everyone."

Prime and Aiden exchange looks as everyone else looks around. "Us?" Tracy asks.

"Please." Ahsoka asks gently, perching herself on a rock and not looking away from Luke. Luke glances over and shares the look for a brief moment before the intensity of her gaze causes him to look away.

Without words, Prime starts leading everyone out, with only Leia only looking back for a split second.

 _She knows that Jedi business isn't quite something you want to bury yourself in. And she doesn't know._

Finally, the backyard is cleared out, with Rex, Echo, Bo, Kanan, Hera, Sabine, Bo, Lux, Ahsoka I the only ones remaining. "I wish Master Obi-Wan was here every day. I have so many questions." Ahsoka starts softly. "Today, I'd ask how he didn't _strangle_ Anakin!"

"Ben didn't say anything about training my father." Luke replies as Ahsoka stalks him, a rare look of anger on her face.

"You're not taking it seriously Luke." Rex cuts thru the fact and gets right to the point. "She's put all of our cards on the table."

"Not all of them!" Luke pops off, then spins away from everyone.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. "You're as stubborn as him. You know that?"

"I'm not sure I want to share anything with him."

"Vader's not your father. Anakin was. Anakin died when Vader rose." Ahsoka tells him.

"They're the same!" Luke whips around. "And besides, it's not like you thought to tell me and soften the blow! My father blew up Leia's home!"

Lux lets out a quiet breath before speaking up. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"You've kept this bottled the entire time." Echo adds.

"Have not." Luke rolls his eyes.

 _And he hasn't exactly been the most gracious to Rex and Echo._

Rex stands out of his chair, holding a datapad. "You don't know."

"Know what Rex?" Luke says, barely keeping the irritation out of his voice.

"You're so focused on saving Solo, you think this is a waste of time. Vader toyed with you on Bespin. The entire time. Right? Kanan, Ezra?"

"He didn't take you seriously." Sabine backs Rex up. "You're not ready."

"And you not taking this seriously is going to get you killed." Lux says finally.

Luke walks in a semi-circle. "I just don't think you're going about this right? You're completely focused on the past, relying on it to help you win now. It lost for a reason!"

"And what would that be?" Rex tees him up.

"This ought to be good." Sabine says beside me, only so I can hear.

"You got beat by a once in multiple millennia plan! It took the Sith thousands of years to get to that point. And you got beat. Start over! Stop obsessing over old lightsaber forms—" Luke looks to me. "Old fights—" he turns to Rex. "And your convictions! He's my father. I know there's good in him." Luke finishes his rant in front of Ahsoka.

"Ezra thought that. Dragged us all to Tibrin, only to get his hand sliced off and set him back a year." Hera cuts his argument to ribbons.

"There's no Anakin left." I nod. "Believe me, I tried."

"You're not his son." Luke frowns at me.

Echo hops out of his seat. "Ezra was the first person we know of to get to that side of him. The only one. You don't know what you're saying."

"And you're seen the footage." Rex adds. "Which makes it worse."

"No, you're the one that doesn't know what he's saying. You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement. You fought beside my father, which is great. But that's where it ends." Luke says to Rex.

Rex leaps toward him, stopping a foot away. "Excuse me?"

"Rex!" Ahsoka slides in front of him, holding him back.

"I helped get you to this point! Me, Echo, Ahsoka, we've all sacrificed a majority of our lives, unknowingly for this cause. To fix this mistake! So _you_ can have the future you deserve." Rex scowls at Luke.

"Senator Organa and Master Kenobi as well." Echo adds, looking on with a frown on his face.

"While I appreciate that—"

Rex cuts Luke off at the start. "You don't appreciate it! Don't say it, it's not true! You've backed your way all the way to this point, without a plan. You're beyond lucky to get to this point! The legacy that's been crafted for you by everyone you've declined until you have no other choice!" he rants, walking all around Luke. "You're supposed to be Ezra! Focused! Driven! Determined! _Trained_. You're none of those!"

"I believe you've been focusing in the wrong places." Luke comments simply.

"I believe you're wrong. And that you're the worst, most reckless parts of your father. You're going to die, and leave us all out high and dry. You know that?" Rex asks him, a step away from Luke again, only for Ahsoka to restrain him.

"No, I'm not." Luke says calmly. "Yoda trained me. And after I free Han, I'm going to go back and complete my training."

Kanan pinches the bridge of his nose. "Not this again."

"You don't have time!" Lux declares. "That new Death Star is coming, and when it does, this planet is likely going to be blown to bits!

"Seems a little like an overexaggeration to me."

Hera jumps in. "It's not! At all. Mandalore is the only planet so far to fight the Empire and win. Because of Ezra and Sabine and everyone in that house. If you think they'll pass on a chance to wipe the board of all of them, you're a fool."

"Then leave." Luke offers up.

"Like you? And hide? No. This is my home. If I go down, I'm going down my way." Sabine shakes her head violently.

"Then maybe you're the fool." Luke counters.

Sabine leaps to her feet and pops out the blade in her armor. "Excuse me?" Luke takes a single step back, eying the blade. "EXCUSE ME?"

" _Karta._ " I call out, breaking thru Sabine's rage and getting her to stop as Kanan stands to restrain Sabine.

 _She's just angry because she just now got cleared to go to Endor. On her fourth exam._

"You've been nothing but ungrateful this whole time. You want something else? Good luck finding it, Ahsoka and Master Kenobi and Leia's father spent years meticulously saving everything they could so that you could finish this! And you want to not listen to a word of it!" Sabine rages at him. "You don't listen! You just…do. You're like Sophie, and she's a child."

"She's—" Luke takes a steps forward, only for Sabine to go against his momentum and stop her blade on his neck.

"Be very careful with your next sentence. Skywalker." Sabine spits out at him. "I can do it, Vader could do it, or Ezra could do it. You haven't fought him and he'd beat you to the next system."

 _She's right. About us not fighting. Kanan and Ahsoka have been the Vader analogues. I'm the opposite of Vader, so I've been trying to teach him since I've been teaching so much, with little to no luck._

"Maybe I should fight him. Get everyone to breathe a little." Luke suggests before I can't hold back a laugh.

 _I can just move around him. He is almost improving exponentially, but I know all of his moves._

"What?" Luke turns to me.

"Sure. We can do that." I smile at him as Ahsoka and Kanan smile slightly.

Luke takes in my expression, then looks at everyone else. "Your overconfidence is a flaw."

"It's earned." Sabine scowls. "Unlike yours. He's earned it thru blood, sweat and tears."

"Fine. Fight it out. Luke, over here. Ezra, you're home team. Where do you want to be?"

 _I'll take him up the mountain._

"There." I smile, pointing to where Rex is leaned up on a rock. Instantly, Kanan smiles as Sabine retracts her blade and stalks away to join Hera and Kanan.

"You're always saying 'Have a purpose with how you train.' What's the purpose here?" Luke asks, seemingly genuinely.

"Easy, I'm an enemy you've never seen. The Emperor." I smile, idea coming to me as I say it.

Luke's expression is bemused. "You've never faced him either."

"That's not the point." I shrug, then activate my lightsaber and salute him.

 _This should be interesting. Let's see how he plays this. Is he going to treat it like practice, or like an actual fight? Because it's a fight to me. Not practice. Kanan and Ahsoka sometimes had to beat me into thinking right, and I have to do that now, with Luke._

 _Never thought we'd get to this point._

Luke takes a breath then charges right at me, brandishing his lightsaber on his right side and telegraphing a downward slice—

 _Dooku._

I smile and deactivate my lightsaber just before Luke starts his chop and sidestep the move, allowing Luke to transition into a slice at my chest that I lean away from and allow to hit thin air. "Did you study my style?"

"Yes! I read the…manifesto!" Luke says, slicing at my head before I duck under the blow.

"Then you know how to beat me. I'm supposed to be like water. Or like Sabine inferred, smoke."

Luke rolls his eyes and cuts at me as I spin on my toes counterclockwise and force him to miss again. "Really philosophical from a Mandalorian warrior."

"Don't let her hear you say that." I smile. "She'll beat your ass. And she's right. I used to be way, way too physical. What do you think—I've been doing—all this time after Yavin?" I ask him, evading his moves.

"Earning a living?" Luke shrugs, opening himself up for a split second to a blow to the face.

 _Got him._

I throw a quick left and catch him unguarded, snapping his head back with a rewarding cracking sound and smile. "Teaching. And learning."

"You going to fight or not?" Luke scowls at me.

"There's a Mandalorian proverb when it comes to fighting." I smile. "You reach, I teach."

"You reach I—OOF!" Luke says before I catch him with a boulder I've been looking for, sending him flying about 20 feet down the slope, giving me enough time to turn and start sprinting up the mountain.

 _Prime and everyone's moved to the backyard. Saw it as Luke swung like a mythosaur._

"Everything okay up there?" Sabine asks as I feel Luke start getting it back together.

"Yeah." I smile. "He reached. I teached. Keep everyone down there, but I'm cool with you joining us."

 _Grammar's wrong, but who cares. Sounds right._

"Okay." She responds as I look back and see Luke eying me before hustling to meet me.

 _Plateau. This is a good spot. It's another 100 feet before another spot like this._

"It's not just one thing, the lightsaber, the Force, the thinking. It's all of it." I say as Luke advances up the slope. "It's fun when you put it together."

"And you've got it all together." Luke asks once he's about ten feet from me.

 _Oh. New idea. But I literally haven't done that since…well, let's try it!_

"I've got pieces and put them together. I'm always looking for new stuff. But this is old. You ready?" I ask him, giving him a heads up.

I see Luke's brain stop and process what I'm saying just before he raises his lightsaber and I tuck my left hand behind my back, channel my anger into my right hand just as I extend it and fire lighting right at him, causing Luke to yell wildly and jump down the mountain.

 _Oh…that…doesn't feel good._

My stomach goes in about fifty directions all at the same time, causing me to crouch down and close my eyes for an instant to gather myself.

 _Hand's okay…but that's probably a last, last, LAST resort sort of thing. Not my best idea._

"Just like the last time I used it." I mutter to myself, then grab some loose gravel and debris and fire it at Luke as soon as his eyes find my level.

"You can block that!" I call out to him, hen activate my lightsaber. "Firm base, stance doesn't really matter! Lightsaber straight up, keep it aligned with the lightning. There's only so many angles it can come from since it's on a horizontal plane! Better that than a storm from above!"

Luke uses his hands and feet to continue scaling the mountain. "Is…that possible?"

"The storm? I don't know, maybe. I've learned never to say anything is impossible with the Force as your ally." I shrug before Luke leaps around me and finds the high ground.

 _Finally. He did at least learn something. If there's anything I guess he had to learn, it's that._

"You sound like Ben." Luke observes, looking sort of pleased as I hear Sabine's jetpack approach off to my left.

"Good." I smile, then advance on Luke and attack his right side and his hand.

 _His weakness._

He blocks my first chop and finagles his way away from my slice before he ducks under my arm, conceding the high ground as Sabine lands before he whips his lightsaber at her. Sabine vaults up using her jetpack, then fires off a flurry of bolts, sending Luke diving for cover.

"I got him." I raise my hand and look to her as she's hovering above me.

"I know. But he threw the lightsaber at me—OOF!" Sabine says before Luke tackles her down onto the snowy path.

"Okay!" Sabine says before smacking him with an open hand and rolling away. Luke realizes this and raises his hand to push her away.

 _Nope!_

I counter his push with one of my own, meeting him over halfway to Sabine, closer to my side. Luke's eyes pop up to meet mine as I take a breath and transfer the push from my right hand to my left as well as alter my stance. Luke digs in as Sabine ducks away from the no-man's land she's found herself in. "Bad idea Luke." I offer up.

"Yeah, you're trained more. But I'm winning."

 _No, I've got you halfway up a mountain that I run up to the peak of every single day. I know every trail, every cave, every piece of unsteady ground._

"But you don't see that." I finish my thought, aiming to confuse him before rocketing off a stronger push, sending him stumbling away before I crouch and leap up thirty or so feet up to the next plateau with Sabine flying right beside me.

"I see what you're doing." Sabine says, a smile in her voice as we both land.

"What's everyone thinking down there?" I ask her as Luke gathers himself again.

"Mostly that everyone's been cooped up inside the house for too long and we're venting stress." She shrugs. "Prime's kind of worried that they've worn out their welcome."

I shake my head. "They know better than that."

"Lux told him that."

"Good."

Luke finally gains the foresight to jump leap up the mountain like I did, gasping as he lands. "Your conditioning isn't where it needs to be either!" I point out. "I'm fine!"

"We're over three miles up! In the mountains!" Luke says angrily, his frustration leaking out into his voice.

"Unintended benefit of living here." I smile before activating my lightsaber and poking out at him, goading him into a quick back in forth that really doesn't get anywhere as Sabine slides out of the way. "Sabine has better conditioning, and she just broke her neck."

 _Get mad. Fall into the trap I did._

Luke brushes off my jab, instead slicing at my shoulder, allowing me to block and riposte into a block of his own before he spins and resets. "I see your jabs Ezra. This isn't you."

"I'm playing my part." I scowl, staying in character. "I'm the Emperor." Before shrugging, moving my left hand back again and firing off another dose of lighting at him, finding the rocks and causing them to explode before the sky above us suddenly rumbles ominously.

 _Okay. Not what I meant._

I glance up and see that the clouds are darkening above us, extending from the peak tens of thousands of feet above. "My bad."

"Yup, you're bad!" Luke takes advantage of my lack of concentration to get the drop on me, swinging down at me, driving me to fully duck down before transitioning into a leg kick and sending him back. "Besides, you know my real plan against my father?"

Sabine pipes up behind us. "Let's hear this!"

"I don't want…to fight him." Luke says, deliberately slowing himself down. "I think you actually had it right. There is good in him."

"That won't work!" Sabine says firmly. "Luke!"

"We've told you this repeatedly. That was my biggest mistake. I should have focused on the Death Star." I frown at him.

"You're saying that because of the connection with your mother. You feel responsible on some level for what happen on Alderaan. Which you shouldn't." Luke says to me.

"I don't!"

"Don't try to guilt trip him Luke! His mother made her own choice, and paid the price!" Sabine calls out to him.

Luke extends his hands to deescalate the conversation. "That's not what I meant. What I meant, was that he did the right things for the wrong reason. He's my father!"

"And he's a Sith Lord!" I counter.

"I don't care what he is! There's good in him, and I will use that."

 _He doesn't listen and learn from our past mistakes. Which was the point of all of this._

I shake my head, reactivate my lightsaber and continue backing up the mountain, towards the next cliff face while poking my lightsaber out at Luke. He complies, reciprocating the contact into a slice, cut and jab which I batter back.

 _Let's get him thinking on his feet, then will get him where I want him._

The wind picks up suddenly, bringing with it some snow flurries before I leap at a spot on Luke's right, causing him to hand me my desired spot, and I rotate my shoulder and unleash a whirlwind of chops and slices, which he blocks with some skill. "I'll give you this, you're talented. More talented than me. Ahsoka was right on that one."

"Ahsoka said that?"

"We've fought about you for years!" I illuminate Luke. "She's always said you're so much more naturally talented than me. It's an old way of thinking I don't buy into, but in this case she was right." I smile as we exchange slices and Luke digs into our blade lock.

"No, she's wrong." Luke grits her teeth. "The old ways lost. For a reason, by new thinking. You have to continue moving forward and don't look back."

I answer by slicing back around him and start edging my way to the cliff side. "Vader complimented my training. And you're discarding it. Everything we've worked for. Which is fine, that's your right."

"I am trying! Your methods are flawed." Luke leaps out at me, attempting to lock me up again. I give him the lock and work it with my left hand so that the handle of my lightsaber is just under my jaw, then grab the handle with my right as well and work him backwards, spinning him around effortlessly as Luke scrambles to regain control of the confrontation.

 _He spent the entire fight worrying about Makashi. I just went Djem So and won the fight without him even knowing it._

Luke jabs at my left shoulder, encouraging me into a pivot and bringing my right arm up high enough for me to catch him with a forearm shiver, knocking him flat on his back and his lightsaber out of his hand. "In any case." I say quietly, walking to his lightsaber and stepping on it to signal to him that our fight is over. "You don't want to listen, so there's no reason to continue. Have it your way, I have nothing left to teach you."

"Ezr—" Luke starts while wiping his nose of blood before I silence him by kicking his lightsaber down the mountain, bouncing off multiple rocks before it takes a bad bounce and careens right down into the cliff.

 _Oops. Didn't mean that._

"Don't come back to the house without your lightsaber. That weapon is your life, and I don't have a spare crystal for you to make another lightsaber." I tell Luke, then turn away and leave him, back to the cliff side and walk to Sabine, who has her helmet off, biting her lip.

"You sure about that?" She asks me.

"No." I answer, then swallow my nerves.

( _Five Days Later_ )

The speeder lands and everyone piles out, with Kanan lingering back near the driver. "I've got it." I tell him as he starts up a conversation with the driver.

"Don't listen to him." Kanan smiles at the man, one of my regular drivers.

"Of course. Dad wants to pay, he pays. Unwritten rule." He smiles at me.

Kanan instantly laughs. "He'll just have to pay for lunch."

"Seems more than fair to me. _Ar'an_ Ezra." (A/N: Master, Instructor)

"Thanks, as always." I smile before the driver smoothly takes off and I turn back to see Sabine giving Zeb the rundown of Tokrush as Hera, Ahsoka and Lux listens in. "I know how lunch goes too."

Kanan smirks and avoids my eyes. "Then you know arguing about it won't get you anywhere."

"I guess." I sigh as Hera looks back and smiles just as Sabine starts leading the way to the academy.

"Thanks for showing us your work love." Hera smiles at me,

Lux tinkers with his watched and nods in agreement. "It's a nice arrangement. Seems to be working out for all involved."

"Yeah, he was really helpful with Sabine being laid up." I agree.

"And you've been doing partial days recently?" Kanan asks me as we round a corner and _Ori'bavar_ comes into sight.

"Yeah, half days with my older students. I keep my job and my connection to them."

Sabine cuts in. "They really like him."

"Why?" Ahsoka asks genuinely.

"I don't know exactly why, but Ezra's always giving them enough room to make mistakes, critiques instead of yelling, tries to be firm but fair. And they really like that." Sabine answers.

Feeling the blood rush to my face I smile. "Just trying to teach them like you taught me." I deflect, then pull open the door for Sabine as we've arrived at the door.

The sounds of an ongoing class, swords clashing, yelling and rapid movement greet us as Sabine leads us to my door, a right and a left from the main atrium, unlocks the door and invites everyone in. "Hmm." Ahsoka instantly comments, turning away to a display of ancient swords.

"I snagged those over a year back. The guy said they found them on an old dig with archeological ties to ancient Jedi." I tell her, causing her to blanche.

"Ancient dig? No, I don't think so."

"Black market is much more likely." Kanan agrees. "Especially if he was trying to sell them."

Lux nods while I smile. "I figured that. Paid him a fair price, mind tricked him and got him to admit he got them from an Imperial out of a bet."

 _Imperial owed him a lot and couldn't pay up. So his placed got stripped, the swords ended up in his possession and he found himself hunted by the Empire. The Imperial lied about the now merchant and says he stole Jedi artifacts._

"What's the story?" Ahsoka steps closer to the swords,

"Card game." I say, quickly activating my holo casually. "Imperial found himself in debt to a pirate, kind of. More of a drifter really. Pirate stripped his place, Imperial told his boss he stole from him, Empire came after him."

"Drifter needs to flip the stuff fast, came to a well-known market, Keldabe, only to find you." Zeb chuckles. "Good find kid."

"Fortunate. I had antiquities do a blind sample test off the handle." I tell Ahsoka, causing her to look at the leather bound handle. "Over 26,000 years old."

Ahsoka and Kanan simply turn, Ahsoka letting out a shocked laugh. "How's it in such good shape?"

"If I had to guess?" I start. "It was in the Jedi Temple originally when it fell. Became a souvenir for a clone, whose boss confiscated it. If anyone asks though, knock off a zero."

"2600 years is still an incredible amount of time." Lux muses as He and Zeb peer at the swords. I give them space, quickly double checking my work correspondence. A firm elbow in the ribs causes me to look at Sabine.

"Not now…" She hisses into my ear.

"I'm just making sure there's nothing I missed when I checked yesterday night."

Hera smiles behind Sabine. "Being through."

"Exactly." I smile. "I wouldn't want to find something that says I have a class next week. Hopefully we won't be here." Before I feel Ahsoka reach out with the Force.

"We brought you something Ezra." She calls out, causing everyone to look toward her and Lux as he's digging in a satchel that he wore. "Sabine mentioned you like decorating."

 _Sophie said he looked goofy on our way out the door. I figured it was an accessory to make him look normal._

"This…" Lux says, looking quietly at a chunk of metal imbued rock. "Is a piece of Onderon. Old battle 'Soka and I had with Saw back in the Clone Wars. Figured you'd like it. Anywhere in particular?" He asks, looking for a place to put it, already on a display and everything.

I smile and show him my palms. "Anywhere would work, I don't know. Whatever you think looks good. There's room. Move folders, I don't care." I tell Lux, and he starts walking the room.

"This, I forgot to get them on a display." Ahsoka says, before she pulls out two lightsabers.

"Ahsoka." I cut her off. "No."

"It's not the real things." She eases my concern. "I had replicas made by Dxun. No crystal inside."

Ahsoka simply hands me replicas of her Clone Wars lightsabers , prompting me to glance around at the various pieces of memorabilia that everyone's given me.

 _Zeb's dagger, Hera's necklace, Bo's Death Watch insignia, Kanan's old shoulder guard, pictures of everyone, a drawing of Sof's as well as a holo pen holder, the pen's that I've never used inside, a DC-17 from Rex and Echo…a fair amount of stuff._

"Thanks guys." I smile sheepishly. "Now my students will really call my office a museum."

"They do that?" Zeb laughs. "I like it."

I incline my head and smile. "Yeah. Orir agreed too, which they loved."

( _Ten Hours Later)_

Mira slightly alters the strength of the Death Star's alloy, then runs the simulation she and Carid created. The holo displays a brief moment of inactivity, then the comm array seems to fritz out and the entire station explodes into large pieces. "Calculations must be different." Carid muses.

"I know the size is different, but it's a factor of two." Mira comments.

"And the factor of two isn't right to fire the superlaser." Carid nods, gesturing to the paused projection of the Death Star in shrapnel-y pieces.

"I…don't know." Aiden yawns, feet draped on the arm of the couch with Prime beside her, looking on.

Tracy glances at them, and then nibbles on a cracker. "New math?"

"All the people capable of calculating this are dead." Mira shakes he head.

I correct her slightly. "We think." Just as an incoming message slide onto the top of the screen.

"I've got…It's Leia." Mira blurts out, causing everyone to leap to their feet.

"What's it say?" Aiden says, now on her feet as Mira opens the comm and reads. Slowly, a smile creeps onto her face.

"They got him." She beams. "Everyone got out. We're a go."

 _(Days Later)_

"00:01:57" the chronometer reads in front of me, the final number rapidly dropping as we reach the set point where we leave the comforts of hyperspace.

"All set up here." Sabine says over the comms.

 _I have to remain radio silent._

"We're a go." Ahsoka nods as the chronometer drops below a minute.

 _Tracy and Ahsoka are helping Sabine in the cockpit. Prime, Katiey, Will, Kanan, the others are scattered across the rest of the ship's guns with Bo down here in the nose gun with me._

The Force vibrates like a taut cord, jangling my nerves and prompting me to wipe my hands on my pants. "More warnings?"

I glance back at Bo, who is wearing her armor but holding her helmet in her lap. "Yeah."

"At least we know what it is." She comments, then looks to the window as the chronometer hits all zeroes and blue engulfs the ship before it rocks and a green moon comes homing into view.

"Whoa." I adjust myself in my seat.

Bo creeps up right behind me to get a closer look. "It's not done. Not even close."

"We must have missed that memo." I say, spotting the _Executor_ off on the near side of the station, keeping watch.

 _It looks tiny compared to it. The Empire's building scale is ridiculous._

"I guess Vader's here." I mutter before Sabine's voice comes thru the speakers.

"I do the talking everybody. Easy."

"Yeah, sure, I don't want any part of this." Darcy says above us, probably near the back loading bay doors.

"Unidentified vessel, we have you on ours screens, please identify yourself. You have entered highly restricted Imperial space. Please respond." An Imperial officer hails us.

"Hello." Sabine's voice changes to an uncanny, chipper version of its regular self. "We're the Mandalorian as ordered by _Mand'alor_ to visit the moon's surface?"

A moment passes. "And your clearance code?"

 _Straight from Mand'alor's hands to Sabine in a sealed envelope._

"262-2MA-49-134.2" Sabine reads off.

"One moment, please follow your present course." The Imperial requests us, as the _Executor_ makes a sharp turn and looks right at us.

 _Uh oh._

I let out a breath just before I feel the now familiar sensation and lure of a dark, black hole reach out and envelop the ship. "Vader."

Bo simply grasps me by the shoulder and massages me to try to get me to loosen up as I feel Ahsoka and Kanan attempt to remain as neutral Force Signatures as possible.

 _There's only so much they can do, and Vader knows where to look._

The Star continues its present course as the _Executor_ again alters its course as we approach, positioning itself so that we'll have to fly right by their bridge. "That thing is ridiculously big." Kal comments.

"Shut up." Will orders him.

"Not helping." Brie says breathlessly.

 _It's like…half built? A third? Both hemisphere's bases are set, but only the left side on both are completed, with the top side further along than the bottom left._

"How does it not like…tip over?" I mutter to myself. "From its own weight?"

 _Mom…what did you do?_

"Imperial engineering. Like it or not, they do a lot of incredible feats that way." Bo says quietly.

 _Tools aren't good or bad by nature. It's in the nature that they're used._

Another few moments pass before I hear Prime mutter "I don't like this…"

"Shut. Up." Tracy tells him as the pacing on the ship increases and I pop out of my seat to crouch down.

 _I can't stay still right now._

Sabine somehow keeps our course nice and steady, flying like we're out on the weekends going to pick up some blue milk and run some errands as time continues to stretch on and on. "It's even getting cold! We know what that means."

"Am I going to have to tape you shut?" Aiden asks Prime, who again falls silent.

"Come on." Bo says quietly as I play with my beard nervously while trying to maintain a calm Force signature.

 _I know he knows it's me. Us. Ahsoka, Kanan, Sabine and I are the big ones._

Of its own accord, the small holo down here hums to life, the bulb flickering for a moment before starting up. "Is that you?" I ask Bo.

Bo shakes her head. "No."

 _Great._

I drag my eyes away from the Second Death Star and to the holo, which powers up, only to display an image and for the air to come right out of Bo.

 _It's Sophie and her father. All dressed up in a city. Coruscant. That's a really good picture._

"He's messing with us again." Bo mutters, looking worried. "I _kriffing_ told him it was stupid to go to Coruscant right now! I told him!" She slaps the bulkhead.

" _Kom'rk_ class transport, you may proceed down to the moon's surface." The Imperial officer says out of the blue.

 _Oh!_

"Okay!" I hear somebody says jubilantly.

"We will do that, thank you! Have great day!" Sabine says, then cuts off the comm. At the same time, our holo goes dark again.

 _Dun Möch._

I glance over to Sabine's mom as she's hanging her head in relief as Sabine steers us downward towards the moon's surface.

 _(Two Days Later)_

Keeping my eyes closed, I focus on the easy flow of Dark Side energy consuming everything around me, our camp, this moon and all of local space it feels like.

 _I think, well we think, that as crazy as it sounds, I think the Emperor's here. Our camp's watch caught the entire Imperial fleet around the Death Star shifting into formation, a shuttle to come out of hyperspace and for everything to seemingly stop for over three hours, in which Vader's Force signature was completely drowned out, as well as almost everything else by this vast, empty…nothingness._

Like I lost the ability to look and feel with the Force, leaving me feeling blind and deaf despite being able to see and hear everything around me.

 _I really have learned to rely on the Force like an extra sense. Now here I am feeling lost without it. Normal sensory perception majorly sucks._

I've got a feel for everything around down here, like Sabine, Prime, our battalions Ahsoka and Kanan. I can even feel Leia, Luke Han, Chewie, Rex and Echo way off in the distance. But covering all that is just…nothing.

" _Relax…use the Force…think." Pops into my head with the voice of Master Kenobi._

I actively obey, releasing everything I've got a hold on right now, the vague grip of the Emperor, where Leia and Luke are and try to listen as the gentle sounds of animals making normal noises engulfs me gently before I hear crunching of branches.

 _Sabine._

Letting out a breath thru my nose, I start pulling myself out of my meditative state slowly and try to embrace as everything else disappears before I open my eyes just as Sabine clambers up to me.

"Oh, you're with us. Great." Sabine smiles, lifting herself onto the branch I'm sitting on. "The first fifty or so feet really were no good, thanks."

"Sorry." I smile before Sabine pulls out a small bag of trail mix and extends it to me.

"It's okay. Wasn't so bad once I could jetpack up the other two hundred and fifty feet. Why here? You can't see anything." Sabine says, looking around.

 _It's true, I'm completely engulfed by these massive trees._

"Just trying to get a feel for things. Did my marker work?" I ask her.

Sabine shakes her head. "No, it's over that way." She points to my left about twenty or so feet, "Let me guess, you had to change trees to avoid branches."

"All tangled up, yeah. Like a trap. Probably set by those local…whatever's they are."

"Ewoks, Threepio called them. That's what Prime and Aiden said when they made contact. Otherwise they'd be attacking us."

 _What do you know, the Mandalorians down here folded the moment we said "Mand'alor" and let us do what we want, and the harder task is a bunch of toy like sentient bear looking creatures._

I shake my head as Sabine grabs a handful of trail mix. "Whatever." Sabine giggles right away, glances over at me then scoots over in an effort to come closer. I shift over so that we can sit side by side, and she does just that.

 _Even this high us, the branches are comically wide. This one is about nine feet wide and is supporting both of us no problem. It's less of a branch and more or a living plank or patio._

"I like what you did with your hair." I compliment her, causing Sabine to part her purple highlighted hair to the side.

"Thanks. I might keep it like this, my natural color but with highlights."

"Well I like it." I fess up again.

Sabine laughs, then bounces her head on my shoulder. "I can tell that by how much you're staring at me."

"Trying not to, but it's hard. I don't know if you know, but you're beautiful." I tease Sabine , getting a giggle out of her before she curls up to me.

"If this all works…this can be all the time." She says quietly as I wrap her up in my arms.

"What? You making fun of me for facts?"

Sabine again laughs before shaking her head. "No…just us. Having it be okay for us to just…" She cuts herself off. "This is going to sound dumb, but I'll say it anyway."

"Okay." I say blandly, and she laughs again.

"We can just fall into each other. Like that forced vacation that all we did was stay in bed, watch the holo and sleep. All I want to do is love you all the time. But like right now, I can't because we're fighting tomorrow."

"That's not dumb." I whisper as Sabine remains millimeters away. "I get it. Turn our brains off and be with each other."

A smirk crosses Sabine's face. "Let love blind us. Now that sounds dumb."

I can't help but laugh, causing Sabine to laugh more and she curls up closer. "Yeah, that's what sounds dumb."

"I don't know…I just think back to Dxun. Not the first night. But the second." Sabine mumbles. "Everything went right, timing was good and I didn't think of anything else but you and being with you and loving you. All you. We've never known anything but the Empire Ezra. I want to win but…I don't know what comes next."

"We're not supposed to." I smile. "Trying to know is what got us here. So I'm happy just letting it play out."

Sabine doesn't vocally respond, instead wrapping her legs around me and laying her head on my shoulder.

 _This part is always too quiet._

I lean back onto the truck of the tree, bringing Sabine with me then try and listen to everything around us.

 _Birds, bees, all the animals, crunching of leaves and branches._

"Plan's still all set?" I ask.

"Mhmm…" Sabine nods not moving otherwise.

 _I'm the rover. Kanan's the shield, Ahsoka's the battering ram. We let the battle come to us after drawing them out like we did in Keldabe when we fought those walkers._

"Any word from the fleet?" I ask.

Sabine shakes her head. "Shut up."

"You're warm." I compliment her.

"Then hold me."

I comply by pulling her legs slightly closer and close my eyes, focusing on Sabine's Force signature instead of the Emperor's.

"Thanks for not shaving like you wanted to." Sabine mumbles after a while. I respond by gently nudging her with my foot.

"I didn't have much choice. You hid my razor last time. I got the hint."

We lapse back into silence and I focus in on the steady beat of Sabine's heart and the rhythm.

 _I never did much focus on the circulatory system. I don't know what arteries and veins are important. I did look at general pinch points and places that I could knockdown an enemy and not actually hurt them long term._

Like tweaking a tendon in their knee so they can't run but in two weeks, they're fine.

"Can you feel Sof?"

I shake my head slightly, not wanting to shift too dramatically from the very comfortable spot we've found ourselves in. "No. She's with Zeb, your dad, Lux and Hera on the _Ghost_. She'll be fine."

"Mom bought her armor though. I painted it." She maintains, breaking our embrace enough to look up at me.

"And it looks good." I smile. "She'll be fine." Sabine simply lets out another breath and curls back up to me as I rest my eye—

"Ezra?"

 _No._

I keep my eyes closed as Sabine barely moves.

 _No._

"Ezra? C'mon, did you fall asleep?" Prime's voice asks on my comm quietly. "You've been up there for hours.

 _Not hours. Maybe one hour, just us up here. It's been really nice. Getting to investigate Sabine's Force signature at the minute level._

"We're here. We're just resting our…eyes." Sabine hits my comm and yawns.

An instant passes before Prime replies, a laugh in his voice. "Well sorry to get you to move but it's getting dark. You need to come down while it's still safe to. We're working on dinner."

"I don't want to." Sabine tells me, hands not near the comm.

"Me neither."

Sabine clumsily hits my comm. "On our way."

 _Apparently we fell asleep._

Sabine gently untangles herself from me, using me as an anchor so she doesn't plummet off the branch. "We need to do more of that."

"It's a date." I smile before starting to stand up and get my act together.

 _(The next afternoon)_

"Advancing to the secondary attack position."

Blaster bolts fly back and forth to my left and right as my earpiece continues to burn with the comms of our troops.

"Keep 'em peeled, I'm seeing mixed units. Light infantry, heavy infantry, no walkers yet." Darcy reads out.

I probe out and feel the battle exactly as I see it, with the battle unfolding but no momentum yet. "I'm still not spotted."

"Good!" Kanan mutters as a speeder bike hits it's next gears and the sound reverberates all around us.

"Skies?" Ahsoka asks.

"Pushing 'em back!"

"Shield!" Someone below yells.

"Still nothing!" Kal informs us.

Sabine gently jumps into me ear, over all other comms. "Ezra?"

"Not yet." I say quietly.

"You're being really patient."

 _They were waiting for us. On both fronts. Our ships jumping spurred us into action._

I nod to nobody. "Well, this was a trap. Next move?"

"Spring the trap." She suggests, causing me to smile.

"No…wait for them to tip their hand." I say.

"You've got the high ground and have been up there since this morning. Things are starting to get serious on the far flank."

 _Where she is._

I shake my head. "It'll be fine, but I feel…" I start before the Force barely ripples.

 _There. It moved the blackness._

I glance near side and see a group of three Stormtroopers followed by a…

"Near side…I have an impossible…" I mumble, hopping a few feet to get a better view.

"An impossible what?" Kal asks.

 _An Inquisitor._

"A lightsaber. Near side, Stand down. Rover in." I order, feel Sabine, Prime, Darcy and the others notice, then leap down on top of the closest Stormtrooper. The Inquisitor wheels around and fires off a push that I raise my hand and neutralize, then shoot under my arm and knock the other two Stormtroopers down. "You're new."

"Jedi Knight Ezra…Bridger." The unknown Inquisitor says simply, then takes a solid step back and activates one end of his lightsaber.

"CONTACT!" Will yells.

"IN!" Ahsoka answers as I mimic the movement, activating my lightsaber at my hip and pointing outward, not down, garnering the attention of a full battalion.

 _Tree trunk._

The Inquisitor slices at my shoulder, granting me an alley to spin away, grab the tree trunk and block the battalion's first shots, then duck down and poke his defenses, causing him to shrink up and fall back. Shots come careening down from above my head as I make a circle with my lightsaber.

 _There are no more Inquisitors, haven't been since Barriss died. So either they're brand new, or might as well be by not showing up in the years of the war. Haven't heard a peep._

"So what are you? A surprise?"

"The Emperor's weapon!" The Inquisitor scowls at me. "Trained to surprise you here just as he has foreseen."

 _Foreseen. There is a plan._

"Careful, this seems to be part of their…plan!" I hit my comm with the Force, then bat away a cut and intended chop.

"Plan? How can this be a plan?" Aiden asks as in the background, speeders are flying everywhere.

The Inquisitor keeps on the attack, alternating left and right side strikes, chops and jabs at random but patterned intervals.

 _There's no pattern, but he's going both ways. If that makes sense._

I riposte a cut and turn it into a spinning jab that misses high due to him moving his arms but opening up his legs for a leg kick. I quickly execute a leg kick, blast away a stray shot from that battalion and grab the middle of his lightsaber.

"Hehe." He laughs before activating the other hilt and starts spinning the axis.

 _Nope!_

I vault up, switch hands with my lightsaber and causally twirl my blade just above the top of his lightsaber, catching him in the face, on his back and cutting right thru him.

"Got him." I land, say and look back to see his hands falling lifelessly and the lightsaber heavily hitting the ground in his right hand.

"Already?!" Somebody says.

"NO!" A Stormtrooper yells and moves to fire.

 _Nope._

Reactively I grab his lightsaber and whip it at the Stormtrooper, catching him off guard as he's raising his rifle and cutting right thru him down to his ribcage but not enough to bisect before continuing on and hitting a minigun that's been set up and has been harassing a downed squad. Probing, I feel another group to my right and impulsively throw the Inquisitor's lightsaber in a wide loop at them.

 _Not my lightsaber, so losing it isn't that big of a deal!_

White appears right in front of my face, garnering my attention as I hear the sound of lightsaber contacting Stormtrooper armor before quick drawing the Stormtrooper, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying back, defeated then pull the Inquisitor's lightsaber to me on a line.

"AAUGH!" Somebody yells on comms before the comm hits the ground. Rapidly, I probe and immediately look left, where a Stormtrooper has caught Tracy blindly with the back of his rifle.

 _Again, nope!_

I fling the lightsaber at him, taking care of the problem and rush over as Tracy is down on both knees, crouched. "You okay?"

"Who was that?" I hear Will ask.

"Something…bounced. Hit me in between the plates." Tracy winces as I move to better protect her.

I hit my comm with the Force and grab my lightsaber just in case. "Need a medic to 27.18.15."

"Tracy?" Will gasps, fear evident.

"I'm…fine! Just hurts to breathe!" She gasps.

"Ezra." Sabine instantly fills my ears, concern evident.

"I don't see any blood, so I don't know." I confess to Sabine.

Tracy leans back due to my cover, revealing a hole in the mesh of her armor and…a grey projectile. "I think it's a rock. Grenade blew up a rock, then I felt the…pain."

"Just a rock turned into shrapnel." I report as I hear footsteps approaching from behind Tracy.

 _The medics._

I poke my head up, block a bolt intended for the medics and answer by throwing the lightsaber again. "WILL YOU LEARN?!" I yell before turning to the medics. "You got her?"

"We've got her." One of them nods confidently.

"Good." I smile, then grasp Tracy's knee for a split second then look back and see the Inquisitor's lightsaber continue to cut thru the Imperial line.

 _Can't really call it a line, just sporadic fighting…everywhere. Not sporadic I guess._

"Is that your lightsaber?" Ahsoka asks. "I haven't seen an Inquisitor for me…yet!"

"Yeah! Crowd control!" I answer, then throw it again and leap up a hill to a battalion, catch one in the knee with a kick, another with a punch before flash activating my lightsaber into the third's face plate, causing them to fall without a movement.

"I've got one! Not…what I want, but not good either!" Kanan reports. "It's the Stormtroopers that won't let me get a clear shot at them all! Swarm tactics!"

"Sabine!" I ask her.

"Darcy!" Is Sabine's answer before I feel them both leap into action.

 _Another Inquisitor._

Before he can spot me, I leap toward him, my lightsaber in my left hand and pulling the Inquisitor's lightsaber into my right just as I arrive and make reverse 'C' motions, catching everyone off guard, ending the Inquisitor and the battalion and one swoop.

"FALL BACK! JEDI!" Somebody yells in a panic.

"No!" I frown, then grab a boulder and knock him out. A second battalion aims up at me in what once must have been a stream before I push down at all of them, blow their blasters away and open up a door for them to get hit with a string of blaster shots from our side. "Nice!"

The soldiers all salute me as I hop up onto the closest hill and look around.

 _This means nothing to me. Just chaos._

"Eyes?" I ask blankly. "Sector is clear as mud!"

"You're heading in the right direction! That way is the—"

A massive fireball goes up in the distance, grabbing everyone's attention before Brie yells "Shield is DOWN!"

 _YES!_

I cut a battalion to ribbons and keep moving forward, using the Inquisitor's lightsaber to crowd control where I can. "Am I near anyone?" I ask.

"Me!"

"Who is me?" I sarcastically ask, blasting a Deathtrooper before the nearest Stormtrooper on my left vanishes, replaced by black armor.

"Hi!" Prime says cheerfully, then sticks a knife in a Deathtrooper's throat and pulls it out and up, sending blood geysering all over both of us. "I am me."

I pull the Inquisitor's lightsaber to me and extend it to him. "Want to try it?"

"You don't mind?" he asks, visibly hesitant.

I smile. "You fought enough with me to earn a try. But if you get anybody you can't handle—"

"I'll be sure to call Mom." Prime shakes his head, then jumps away.

"Comms are still being jammed!" Will reports. "I've heard reports of walkers, but nothing verified!"

"Where are you?" I ask him as I take cover from a sniper shot and transition into throwing my lightsaber at the branch about 40 feet up, catching him off guard and sending him plummeting.

"With Tracy! In the rear!"

"I need you up here!" Orir barks. "These damn bears are running into the fire!"

I block two targeted shots, spin and cut down another two Stormtroopers. "Will…stay hot back there!"

"Somebody adjust!" Sabine offers up. "Kanan's clear!"

I turn to my right to see if I can pinch the flank, then am almost turned back around by the Force to watch Mrs. Wren get crushed by a Deathtrooper, who then looms right over her.

 _NO!_

I leap the distance separating the three of us, land and blow the Deathtrooper away with a Push so hard he's thrown into the air and bounces ten feet high off a massive tree before I dispatch another Deathtrooper. "Are you okay?"

Bo stays silent for a moment, shifting to her right and shaking her head. "I'm coming around that I'm too old for this."

"Huh?" I ask.

"This whole fight." She says, moving into a sitting position. "I've been holding my own but not by much. I thought my reactions would be okay, but they're not."

 _What is she saying?_

"Are you okay though?" I ask intently, crouching down and ignoring a local explosion.

"I'm retiring from active battles. I'll settle to teach." Bo confesses, then starts using me to pull herself up.

"Really?" I blurt out, then sense and deflect a wayward shot before Bo winces and looks that way.

She wearily nods. "Yeah."

"Retire?" I repeat myself as our front line is rapidly approaching.

 _That's your chance I guess. But Sabine's Mom…not fighting?_

"I can't keep up unless I've got somebody to cover for me! You saw me down there!" Bo points out bitterly, then blindly makes a shot with her wrist bolt, felling a Stormtrooper in the neck.

"Uhh…" I say, trying to let my brain catch up. "Okay! You and Will can switch?"

Bo shakes her head. "No, not today! I'm still needed! Here!"

"Then why even say anything to me?" I ask hotly before she hits another pair of Stormtroopers quick trigger style.

"Because you're smart and can handle it! I'll stay with you!" Bo offers up.

"Fine!"

"You sound happy about it!" Bo quips.

"You're not Sabine, that's all!" I counter.

Bo shakes her head, uncorks…something which instantly knocks down two whole squads of Stormtroopers and gathers the attention of three others. "Okay Satine, you're channeling the poor boy."

"What?" I blurt out, then shove her back and block as many incoming bolts as I can.

"You're as stubborn as she used to be!"

"COMPLIMENT!" I fire back, before I see a red blur come out of nowhere, leaving nowhere to go but dive down and away, down the hill.

Doing just that, Bo stops me and lifts me up so fast she has time to protect me on either side with her pistols only for Prime to appear, smiling, helmet on his back with the visor cracked. "Hi again."

"Your visor?" Bo asks.

"Inquisitor." He shrugs.

 _PRIME!_

I take a step forward before he smiles. "Sorry. I saw you jump to help her just before I did, then an Inquisitor got the drop on me."

"Past tense."

"Yeah, I guess. Not as—FAST!" Prime says, sticking a Stormtrooper who ran too close to him. "Not as fast as Ezra is, so he was kind of easy."

"You took down an Inquisitor?" I blurt out on comms.

"WHAT?!"

"YOU SON OF A BANTHA!"

Prime smiles, then wipes a bit of blood off his forehead. "Better than the alternative." He jokes and I fire on…

"Hey!" Ahsoka deflects the bolt. "Nice work." She smiles at Prime then slithers right around him, blocking a stun bolt and leaps right past us to her flank.

 _Which is awfully close._

"Sever the line!" I slap my comm, and Prime looks to Bo.

"Back to it then!"

"You using that full time? Or just for fun?" Bo asks.

Prime smiles. "Close range! Makes me miss Ordo! Boy this would piss him off so bad…" He cracks up, then pulls out his rife and catches a fuel cell, sending a fireball everywhere.

"Retreat!" A indistinct Imperial voice yells, sending Bo and I back into action. "All units retreat!"

"We don't retreat here!" I call back, then leap up and curl a Force Push around a tree and slam a battalion into a troop carrier's hard Durasteel, knocking them all out. Multiple Stormtroopers move to fire, only for men in the trees to handle them and for me to finally see the line.

 _It's visible only because of the monochrome of the Stormtroopers, but I can indeed see it. My path to victory._

Without further thought I spring into action right down the line, slicing three men, cutting another tow, ducking under a few bolts, protect Kal and Orir who are holding down a position then knock up some debris to give them time to act on their objective. Moving right on down the line, I cut thru a battalion of Deathtroopers, two more groups of Stormtroopers before I notice that they're starting to run away from me, allowing our men a free run to their back line.

"It's becoming a rout Ezra! Keep pushing! I think we're close!" Darcy tells me.

"We have to be close!" Ahsoka appears behind Bo, toting Will a step behind her. "I'll finish their back line."

Bo smirks. "I'll keep you posted!"

The sound of a rocket launcher grabs everyone's attention before it deflects off some debris or something, slamming into a tree and causing an ominous creaking sound.

"Uh oh." I say to myself as Bo and I look up to see that the tree is sort of leaning towards falling on us.

" _Buir'shika!"_ Bo spits out, then moves to grab my collar and pull me away as an idea pops into my head and I dig in and focus on the middle of the tree.

 _C'MON…_

"Move!" I yell at the men in front of me as the tree seems to stop tilting due to the pressure I'm focusing on it. "NOW!" Taking another solid step forward, I clench my fists and keep my focus with Ahsoka darting around me to protect me from stray blaster shots before finally, after what feels like forever, the tree starts to fall on top of the Imperial line, which disintegrates as men run in all directions from the tree, which seems to go on forever before it lands, causing the ground to jump up what feels like a foot in the air.

"I…" Bo stutters. "What?!"

I smile, then focus on creating a bubble and enclose her in the protective blue bubble before throwing my lightsaber out in a gentle arc to catch any unaware Stormtroopers. "Surprise?"

"Is this even possible?" Will asks as shots hit the bubble but they remain unharmed.

"Yup!" I smile, then forcibly push an officer over a hasty barricade and sending him into an clumsy fall before Ahsoka appears again.

"You…frustrate me Ezra! But you did it. So I guess I'm okay with it!" She bites her lip.

Will turns to her. "Did you know about this?"

"The Force bubble?" She asks, then nods. "Yeah, it's an advanced technique I never taught Ezra.

 _Right._

I snap up my foot and send the sneaky Stormtrooper flying without raising my hand, causing Ahsoka to smack me on the head.

"Too easy."

"Not fair!" Ahsoka retorts. "They don't have the organization for their numbers. Now I'm going to—" She starts before a shockwave slams into us, followed by a massive explosion and a blinding light up in the sky.

 _What in the—_

The entire forest erupts in cheers and explosions as I keep my arm in front of Will and Bo and look up where the Death Star has exploded, causing the air to instantly come out of me.

 _Oh…MY…_

"EZRA!" Sabine screams in my ear.

"THEY DID IT!" Mira yells.

Ahsoka and I look to each other before I quickly probe out.

 _Prime quietly reported yesterday that near the Shield Station, a single shuttle landed with a battalion. I didn't know that and only felt Luke leaving the moon. I assumed, to face Vader._

"Uhm…" I look to Ahsoka again a I barely probe into the Force and it grants me, well, everything.

 _Sabine, Kal and Orir, Leia, Han, Kanan, Darcy, Mira, Aiden, Brie, Katiey, Prime…EVERYONE. Easily._

"The Force is super clear right now. Like…I've never felt it this clear." I tell Ahsoka, causing Bo and Will's eyes to snap down.

Ahsoka nods. "Me neither. Even during the war…"

 _Is the Emperor…dead?_

"Guys?" Will asks Ahsoka and I as we just look at each other. "Words?"

"I've got Luke, far away." I start as Ahsoka starts looking concerned.

 _But nothing else._

"Ezra? Ahsoka? You feeling this too?" Kanan asks on the comm as around us, nobody seems to know what to do.

"Yeah. I don't know what to make of it." I confess and look to Bo. Ahsoka simply climbs the top of a hill.

"Lay your weapons down! And we will accept your surrender. Peacefully, with no more fighting." She calls out, gesturing for everyone to remain calm.

Sabine's voice then slips into my ears. "Ezra…I've got a group over here. All black, just executed a whole squad easy. I think…it's Iden Versio."

 _Iden Versio?_

"Inferno Squad?" I ask quietly.

"You wanna come help me? Or should I test my limits?"

 _No._

"No…fall back to us. I think we're—" I stop and peer at the sight of Stormtroopers setting their rifles down. "Handling a surrender."

"Hey Ezra?" Aiden patches into my ear. "I think I've got Leia here."

I smile and step away from everyone. "Put her thru."

My ear comm clicks, then connects. "I think we're thru." Aiden comments.

"Okay." Leia answers.

"You got it." I smile.

"Ezra!" Leia answers, sounding thrilled.

"Ask how everyone's doing! And don't move too much." Han orders her around.

"I am…Ezra, how's everyone? Where are you?" Leia asks insistently.

I shrug to nobody and drift into the tree line, where destruction is everywhere. "Made it thru in one piece. Tell me you see what I'm seeing and that I'm not dreaming."

 _We really tore this place up._

"You're not dreaming. No word from Admiral Ackbar or anything, but…I think we might be okay." Leia says, then laughs. "OW! HAN!"

"You moved!"

"You okay?" Sabine asks politely.

"Sabine! Hi! Yeah, got hit by a shot."

"Reflected, shot." Han corrects her.

"Oh shut up and let me talk." Leia scolds him.

"No, let him talk. It's nice to hear you Han." Sabine says happily, her smile leaking thru to me.

"Same to you sister, Leia said you had some trouble? Sorry I hibernated." Han jokes, getting Leia and Sabine to laugh.

 _Haha._

"It's fine." Sabine comments, then appears off to my left. "We think you're right nearby, so Ezra and I are going to swing by, reinforce you. Okay?"

"Sounds fair enough." Leia comments before Kanan waves at us to flag us down.

"Bigger problem. Debris from that explosion is circling the moon. Hera's leading a group of smaller ship down here to land so they don't get cut to ribbons." He explains.

Sabine nods, then takes off her helmet. "Okay."

"Sounds like a problem we can handle." Ahsoka shrugs. "Near the secondary defensive position?"

"I was thinking tertiary, but we can walk and scope it out." Kanan caves before they both drift off in that direction behind us.

Will takes a step toward Sabine and I. "Go secure them. We'll work on figuring all this out."

"Aye aye!" I tease him as Sabine hops in the air then takes off at a jog, leaving me to follow. We run together for about a hundred feet before she stops , throws her helmet off and kisses me as hard as she can.

"Oh…my…" She laughs, before I quickly kiss her again and let her giggle into the dumb kiss.

I shove her away as she's clinging to my shoulders. "It's not that funny."

"We did it!" Sabine says. "I didn't think we could! With the walkers and the flanks, and…but we did!"

"Walkers?" I ask.

Sabine nods. "There were walkers. But those Ewoks took care of them! Little traps and tricks, even crushed one between two parts of a tree."

 _Huh._

"Okay then." I laugh, only for my cheeks to hurt. "Ow. My cheeks hurt."

Sabine instantly caves into my chest and laughs. "I can't believe it."

"It really wasn't that bad." I say off the top of my head. "Safe Zone felt worse."

"That's a numbers and surprise thing." She retorts with a shake of the head. "This was worse."

 _Because I wasn't there._

"Eh." I tease her, only to get shoved down a hill and have to hastily keep my balance.

"Hey! Stop right—" A concealed voice orders us.

"Look out!" Leia yells before I slice a Stormtrooper and Sabine nails two with her pistols, leaving just us, Han, Leia, Threepio, a messed up R2, Rex and Echo.

"Problem. Solved." Rex comments simply, before Sabine turns and waves over them over.

Han and Leia both smile widely. "There they are." Han smiles widely.

"Is it too soon to ask 'Now what?'" I joke, causing Han to frown and Leia to laugh at me.

"Yes." Rex smiles. "It is."

"What's the plan?" Leia asks Sabine, Rex and I.

Rex gestures over to Sabine and I. "They probably know more than I do."

"Kanan and Ahsoka are scouting out a place for Hera to land. The explosion is making it difficult to fly and jump to hyperspace." Sabine explains.

 _It was far enough from Yavin last time that this wasn't a problem._

"Speak of the devil…" Echo says, then points up as a full squadron, led by the _Ghost_ are circling to land back behind the Imperial line. Leia takes initiative and starts off that way, leaving everyone else to follow.

"Kid." Han says quietly before barely grabbing my sleeve. "Got just a second?" I nod, then let him start. "There's no easy way to say this… but did you know about Luke and Leia? And their…family?"

 _Oh._

"What do you mean?" I play dumb.

"Leia just told me a minute ago that she and Luke are related?" He says, eyes bulging out at the end. "Do you know anything about that? Because…that gets awkward."

"Yeah." I smile. "I knew."

"Then why didn't you—" He says in a rush.

"You think that's easy for them to just hear? No, just like Luke's father." I ask him. "No, I knew, but I couldn't really say anything."

Han stares at me. "Luke's…father? Who's Luke's father?"

"You don't know?"

 _Karabast._

"No." Han shakes his head.

"Let's go talk to everyone and see what the plan is." I change the topic completely.

"Ezra!" Han calls after me as I turn and jog away. "Ezra!"

"I thought you knew. Ask Luke. I shouldn't have said anything." I confess as pilots start streaming past us towards where the Stormtroopers are being held captive.

Han eyes me for a moment. "How bad is it? Leia said she knew he was still alive, but he could be in more danger if he's got some crazy father."

"He isn't. I'm not feeling anybody other than Luke. No Vader, no Emperor, nothing." I explain. "Luke's the Savrip of the dejarik board."

 _Ghost's landed._

Han and I scale the crest of the next small hill, then see that Hera, Carid, Zeb and Sof have already left the _Ghost_ and are catching up with everyone. "How?" I call out to Zeb.

"Lando." Zeb smiles at Han and I.

Han stumbles slightly. "Where's my ship?"

"Taking another orbit. He had to come out too fast to land here right away. He has to take a pass and slow down." Zeb explains as behind him, Kanan pulls Hera into a hug she collapses into.

 _Maybe they can do what they want now. Because she loves him, he loves her. But they've both put the Rebellion above themselves. And now, well…I don't know what now._

Sabine sidles up to me. "Luke's on his way. Commed Hera, saying he had to steal a shuttle to get out in time."

"You think they'll mind?" I joke, getting a few laughs out of Han, Sabine, Prime and Aiden.

"You Han Solo?" Kal walks up, eying Han.

Han smiles. "That's me."

"Kal, I'm a friend of Ezra's. Don't think we've met before." Kal smiles, then moves to shake Han's hand. As they exchange introductions, I turn to Prime.

"How are things over…there?" I gesture over the hill.

"Getting handled. Ahsoka and Lux are worried about Luke though." Prime explains, prompting me to probe out again.

 _Still just Luke. But that would make sense if Luke turned Vader, as crazy as that sounds and they teamed up to beat the Emperor, which has to be the only way to do it. Two on one. Vader is still the most infamous and deadly man, maybe of galactic history so he'd have to hide. Maybe run. The Rebellion won't be as kind as Ahsoka and I would be to him._

A small black speck appears off in the distance as everyone keeps talking, minus Lux and Ahsoka, who are off to the side anxiously. "Feel anything?" Sabine asks me.

"Everything, everyone. But no Vader." I frown.

"That's good right?" Han asks as Leia sidles up to me.

I nod. "I think he was trying to get somebody off there too."

"Yeah." Leia backs me up. "I heard that too."

 _Closer._

"We should probably give him some space. He's seen a lot—" Sabine starts before my comm chimes and I step away from everyone.

"Hello."

"Ezra…it's Luke." Luke's voice greets me.

"Good to hear your voice. I might owe you an apology." I smile. "Just keep coming this way, we've got a perimeter and everything set up."

"Okay, I need your help. I've got a, uhm, passenger that needs, uhm…help." He sputters.

 _He did it._

I gesture for Prime to come over and nod then reply "Yeah, I'll have my guys help me."

"It's not really something I want everyone knowing about though." Luke explains as Prime arrives and nods once.

 _He gets it._

"We'll do that."

"Okay. Prepping for landing…now." Luke says.

" _Aii_." Prime calls out to Will, Kal and Orir as we both walk up to the front of the group. (A/N: Here)

Kanan leans around Hera. "News?"

"Luke wants our help with something." I relay, glancing over to Ahsoka in time to see her perk up.

 _I think he did it._

"You think…?" Hera whispers before Prime shrugs.

"Why would he need help otherwise?"

"Good point." Sabine agrees quietly as the Imperial shuttle is about fifty feet above us.

I step to the front of everyone as Prime, Sabine, the guys and Leia all join Ahsoka, Lux and I. Seconds later, I feel Ahsoka reach out for something, followed by Kanan mimicking the action.

 _Just Luke._

The shuttle lands heavily, about two hundred feet from the _Ghost_ , right at the tree line, pressurized gas.

 _Just Luke._

About a minute after landing, but before anyone moves toward the shuttle, the emergency door flies open, revealing a beaten looking, frazzled but alive Luke Skywalker with the front of his black shirt hanging open.

"Back there. I…I need a minute." He barely looks at anyone before slipping back toward the forest, instantly cueing Ahsoka to reach out again.

 _Just Luke. He has to be hiding himself in the Force._

"I got it." Han slides forward. "There's an emergency unlock for the bay doors…" He slides inside. "Here!" Right away, the doors unlock, gas spews out again, and start lowering towards the forest floor.

I lead Prime and everyone around the other way before the door slowly continues to lower itself, hitting the ground with a resounding thud before I step onto the shuttle. "Hello? Si—"

 _Oh. Oh no._

The air comes out of me as I slide off to the side, looking for Sabine.

 _He's…_

Ahsoka takes one look before diving for Lux and letting out a painful gasping sob of a noise before Lux pulls her close.

"It's okay…Luke's alive." Lux instantly says.

"Noooo…" Ahsoka sobs, continuing to lose it before making another horrible sobbing noise.

 _Her master's…dead._

Anakin didn't make it.

I glance down at the floor of the shuttle, where the body, still in Vader's suit is lying horizontally near the cockpit. "You did everything you could." Lux tells Ahsoka strongly as Lux is all that's keeping Ahsoka upright as she's bawling her eyes out.

Numbly, I look to Prime, who's taken his helmet off again and looks shaken before Will takes his helmet off, encouraging Kal and Orir to do the same.

 _Luke couldn't bear to handle the body himself right now, so he entrusted us to move it. That's why he parked so far away._

"No, NO!" Ahsoka screeches. "He's dead! There's…something!" She says, wiping her eyes while looking manic before lux starts steering her out of the shuttle. "Anything I could have d—do—done…" She sobs uncontrollably.

"C'mon, let's not get everyone freaked out. Come on." Lux gently steers her out of the shuttle as Rex and Echo walk up to fill the void.

"Oh no." Sabine barely whispers beside me.

Rex takes one look at the scene in front of him, then inhales deeply and finds the nearest seat and buries his head in his hands, allowing his shoulders to droop before Echo's face turns livid, and he punches the interior so hard it dents before swearing in storming away. "Ech…" Rex starts, then stops, slapping his hand on his knee helplessly.

"Dears, what's…" Bo walks up, then stops dead in her tracks, looking at the body.

Will gently pulls his arm forward, rigor mortis clearly having not set in yet. "Guys, look."

 _His hand's gone. Chopped off._

"It must have happened when Luke did whatever he did to beat the Emperor." I mutter. "Vader took the blow."

"Anakin." Rex corrects me quietly. "Look at the lighting marks. His suit is fried."

 _The life support is ruined, leaving Vader, Anakin to die. But how'd Luke get out then?_

Bo lets out a shaky breath. "I'll make sure the perimeter is secure so we can move the body away and nobody will see." Then turning around, right into her husband.

"Dear, what—" He starts, then stops.

"Yeah." Sabine answers simply. "We can start building a pyre, as an option." Before Prime falls to a knee and starts speaking in Mandalorian.

 _That's how Jedi used to…dispose of their fallen friends._

Firm footsteps signal somebody else joining us, encouraging me to turn and see both Leia and Lux. "Echo's got her. And I'm just here." He says before the sound of Ahsoka's sobbing drifts to us thru the exterior and interior of the shuttle.

"Okay." Leia says solemnly. "Uhm…I'm open to all ideas, as long as they're respectful. Luke gets final say."

"And, Lux, Echo and Ahsoka." Sabine and I both jump in.

Rex sniffles, still seated. "I'm fine with what they want. I'll…just need a moment with him. Later." He says shakily.

"Anakin Skywalker." Leia says very quietly. "Ahsoka's master."

Lux nods once. "Yeah."

"I'll be right back…" Leia waves, then moves to leave the shuttle.

"I don't know what to do." I confess to the group.

" _Be' cey'tal_." Prime, Will, Kal, Orir and Sabine all say simultaneously before Prime and the guys all rise. Prime slowly approaches Rex. (A/N: Now rest.)

"This is you guys' show. Tell us what you want done, and we'll work it out." Prime says solemnly, as the others slide behind him.

Rex nods shakily, uncovering his face. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you mind if we move him? Or wait for Ahsoka." He asks Rex, again very gently.

"We can move him, fewer people, I got him…"

"We all got him." Orir says strongly as everyone starts moving to pick Vader up.

 _Oh blast._

I quickly jump in near his shoulders before Prime starts lifting, and we all heave him up onto our shoulders.

 _Jeez…he's heavy. Has to be almost three hundred pounds everything said and done._

"C'mon. No, move." Sabine slides ahead of us, moving everyone. "No, Darcy, _move_."

"What's the big deal, why's Ahsoka cry—" Darcy asks just before we step onto the ramp, and everyone falls silent.

 _Yeah._

I gently start making the turn, ignoring everyone's eyes as I feel Rex shakily hold on across from me before Ahsoka comes into view, hugging Echo with Leia by her side.

"Oh, no, oh no. Ezra, move." Ahsoka leaps up, then basically shoves me back and away.

I silently comply, letting the procession continue with Ahsoka and Rex leading the pack leaving Echo, Leia and I looking on.


End file.
